a Phil Brodie Band Info Page
"Births & Deaths"
These birthdates and death dates are unique to this site,
I have been working on them for over 6 years now.
PLEASE give credit or link if copied
PAGES UPDATED DAILY
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AUGUST: Charts ~ AUGUST: On This Day ~ AUGUST: Quiz
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AUGUST
SADLY DEPARTED
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RESPECT - OBITUARIES
2010 .. 2009 .. 2008 .. 2007 .. 2006 .. 2005 .. 2004 .. REQUESTS
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MORE BIRTHDATES & PASSINGS
January . February . March . April . May . June . July
August . September . October . November . December
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AUGUST BIRTHDAYS

August 10th
1981: Natsumi Abe (Japanese singer, actress).
1980: Lydia Salnikova (Russian C&W vocalist; Bering Strait).
1977: Aaron Kamin (guitarist, song writer; The Calling).
1973: Jennifer Hanson (country music singer-songwriter).
1968: Michael Bivins (manager, producer; member of New Edition/Bell Biv Devoe).
1968: Kangol Kid (US rapper; UTFO).
1968: Leigh Marklew (bass; Terrorvision).
1967: Todd Nichols (guitarist; Toad The Wet Sprocket).
1967: Lorraine Pearson (vocals; 5 star).
1967: Mart Sander (Estonian singer, actor, TV host).
1966: Hansi Kürsch (German singer).
1964: Aaron Hall (American R&B singer, songwriter).
1962: Julia Fordham (singer, songwriter).
1961: Jon Farriss (drummer;INXS).
1959: Mark Price (drummer; All About Eve/Del Amitri/Mice).
1950: Patti Austin (US R&B and jazz music singer).
1949: Gene Johnson (US mandolinist, banjo, fiddle, guitar, tenor vocals; Diamond Rio).
1949: Andy Cresswell-Davis (vocals, keyboards, guitar; Korgis).
1947: Ian Anderson (vocals, guitar, flute, acoustic guitar; Leader of Jethro Tull).
1946: Mick Clarke (US bassist; Rubettes).
1943: Ronnie Spector/Veronica Yvette Bennett (US singer; Ronettes).
1943: Louise Forestier (French-Canadian singer, songwriter, actress).
1943: James Griffin (US guitar, vocals, engineer; Bread)*11.Jan.2005
1940: Michael "Tunes" Antunes (sax; John Cafferty&Beaver Brown Band/Eddie&The Cruisers).
1940: Robert Lee "Bobby" Hatfield (US singer; Righteous Brothers)*05.Nov.2003.
1928: Eddie Fisher (US singer, entertainer).
1928: Jimmy Dean (singer, Accordion, Piano, Guitar).
1922: Al Alberts/Al Albertini (US singer, composer, TV personality; Four Aces/solo)*27.Nov.2009.
1909: Leo Fender (inventor of The Telecaster and Stratocaster)*21.March.1991.
1872: Bill Johnson (US jazz bassist, the father of the "slap" style, sessionist)*03.Dec.1972.

August 11th
1985: J-Boog/Jarell Damonte Houston (singer; B2K/solo).
1975 or 1978: Chris "Mack Daddy" Kelly (hip hop, rapper; Kris Kross).
1970: Ali Shaheed Muhammad (rapper, hip hop DJ; A Tribe Called Quest).
1970: Andy Bell (bass; vocals; Ride/ Oasis).
1968: Charlie Sexton (guitarist, singer, songwriter; Charlie Sexton Sextet/Bob Dylan).
1964: Hamish Seelochan (vocals; Pasadenas).
1962: Bragi Ólafsson (bassist; The Sugarcubes).
1960: Paul Gendler (guitar; Modern Romance).
1957: Richard Reinhardt/Richie Beau/Richie Ramone (US drummer; The Ramones/Velveteen).
1954: Joe Jackson/David Ian Jackson (singer, sax, keyboards, piano; Joe Jackson Band).
1954: Bryan Bassett (guitar, slide guitar, vocals; Wild Cherry/Foghat)?
1950: Erik Braunn (lead guitar; Iron Butterfly)*25.July.2004.
1949: Eric Carmen (singer, keyboard, piano, guitar; Raspberries/solo).
1948: Bill Hurd (keyboards; Rubettes).
1943: Jim Kale (bassist; The Guess Who).
1943: Dennis West Payton (saxophone, keyboards; Dave Clark Five)*17.Dec.2006.
1942: Mike Hugg (UK drummmer, composer; Manfred Mann).
1940: Peter King (English jazz saxophonist, composer, and clarinettist).
1925: Mike Douglas (Singer, TV Host)*11.Aug.2006
1919: Ginette Neveu (French violinist; a violin virtuoso)*28.10.1949
1909: Tau Moe (Hawaiian Steel Guitar; session/guest)*24.June.2004

August 12th
1980: Matt Thiessen (Canadian lead singer, rhythm guitarist, pianist; Relient K).
1980: Jade Valerie/Jade Villalon (American singer/songwriter; Sweetbox).
1975: Robert Burås (Norwegian guitarist; Madrugada/My Midnight Creeps)*12.July.2007.
1972: Del tha Funkee Homosapien/Teren Delvon Jones (hip hop artist; Deltron 3030).
1970: Sharam Tayebi (Iranian DJ, music producer; one-half of Deep Dish).
1969: Tanita Tikaram (singer, songwriter).
1968: Paul Tucker (keyboards, piano, producer; Lighthouse Family/The Orange Lights).
1965: Bon Harris (UK percussionist; Nitzer Ebb).
1963: Sir Mix-A-Lot/Anthony Ray (US rapper).
1961: Roy Hay (guitar, vocals; Culture Club).
1960: Morty Black/Morten Skaget (Norwegian bassist, drums; TNT/solo/guest).
1958: Jurgen Dehmel (bass, Nena).
1954: Pat Metheny (jazz rock guitarist; Pat Metheny Group/solo/session/guest).
1956: Danny Shirley (US country music singer)
1953: Jerry Speiser (drummer, vocals; Men At Work).
1950: August Darnell/Thomas August Darnell Browder(singer; Kid Creole & the Coconuts).
1950: Ronald David Mael (keyboards; Bijou/Sparks/freelance).
1949: Mark Knopfler (UK guitar, vocals; Dire Straits/solo/guest).
1941: Craig Douglas (UK pop singer).
1940: Tony Allen (Nigerian drummer instrumental in creation of the Afrobeat).
1929: Alvis Edgar "Buck" Owens Jr (American singer and guitarist; the Buckaroos)*25.March.2006
1929: Peter Greenwell (composer, pianist; Noel Coward/Own Band)*4.June.2006.
1927: Porter Wagoner (UK country music singer)*28.Oct.2007.
1914: Ruth Lowe (Canadian songwriter, pianist)*04.Jan.1981.
1912: Billy Douglas (American trumpeter, vocalist)*1978
1910: Joseph Spence (Bahamian fisherman-turned-guitarist)*18.March.1984
1890: Al Goodman (Russian composer, musical director, conductor, pianist)*10.Jan.1972.

August 13th
1959: Michael Bradley (bass; Undertones).
1959: Mark Nevin (singer, songwriter; Fairground Attraction)?
1958: Feargal Sharkey (singer; Undertones).
1951: Dan Fogelberg (US singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist)*16.Dec.2007.
1950: Pluto Shervington (reggae musician, vocalist, engineer and producer).
1949: Cliff Fish (bass; Paper Lace).
1949: Jonathan Arendt (bass; Paper Lace).
1940: John Stokes (Irish singer, harmonica; The Bachelors).
1938: Michael Joseph Smith (Chicago jazz sax player).
1930: Don Ho/Donald Ho Tai Loy (Hawaiin pop singer, keyboard)*14.April.2007.
1929: Augustyn Bloch (composer, member of the Polish Composers Union)*06.April.2006.
1927: Joe Puma (American jazz guitarist; session/bandleader)*31.May.2000.
1925: Benny Bailey (American bop trumpeter)*15.April.2005.
1920: Elizabeth Drina Fretwell O.B.E (Australian prima donna operatic singer)*5.June.2006
1904: Charles "Buddy" Rogers (American actor and jazz musician)*21.April.1999.

August 14th
1974: Ana Matronic/Ana Lynch (vocals; Scissor Sisters).
1971: Walter Blanding (US tenor saxophonist).
1970: Kevin Cadogan (lead guitarist; Third Eye Blind).
1968: Jez Willis (member of British electronic band, Utah Saints).
1965: Mark Collins (guitar; Charlatans UK/Starsailor)?
1960: Sarah Brightman (English soprano singer, actress).
1956: Jerry Underwood (UK sax; Pentangle/John Martyn/Spirit Level/Bullet)*03.Aug.2002
1956: Sharon Bryant (lead singer; Atlantic Starr/solo).
1951: Bob "Slim" Dunlap (singer, songwriter, lead guitarist; the Replacements/solo).
1947: George Ewart Newsome (drums; Climax Blues Band).
1947: Maddy Prior (singer; Steeleye Span/Silly Sisters).
1946: Yabby You/Vivian Jackson (Jamaican reggae singer, producer)*12.Jan.2010.
1946: Larry Graham (US baritone singer, bassist; Sly and The Family Stone).
1942: Frank "Son" Seals (Blues guitarist/singer)*20.Dec.2004.
1942: Lionel Morton (vocalist, rhythm guitarist, television presenter; Four Pennies).
1941: David Crosby (singer, guitarist; Crosby, Stills & Nash/solo/guest).
1941: Don Bennett (American jazz pianist).
1940: Dash Crofts (drums, mandolin, keyboards, guitar; Seals & Crofts).
1930: Eddie Costa (American jazz pianist, vibraphonist)*28.July.1962
1926: Buddy Greco (American pianist, vocalist; Benny Goodman/solo/freelance).
1926: Johnny Rogers (British jazz clarinetist, saxophonist).

August 15th.
1989: Joseph Adam "Joe" Jonas (American singer; Jonas Brothers).
1989: Belinda/Belinda Peregrín Schüll (Spanish-born Mexican singer, songwriter, actress).
1988: Tiffanie Anderson (US singer, dancer; Girlicious).
1978: Tim Foreman (American bassist; Switchfoot).
1973: Adnan Sami/Adnan Sami Khan (UK born music composer, singer, pianist).
1972: Mikey Graham (Irish vocalist, actor; Boyzone).
1969: Bernard Fanning (Australian lead singer, songwriter; Award winning Powderfinger).
1969: Kevin Cheng (Hong Kong actor, singer).
1966: Shirley Kwan/Kwan Suk Yee (Hong Kong singer, dancer, actress).
1962: Marcia Schofield (UK keyboardist; Fall)?
1961: Matt Johnson (UK singer, songwriter; The The).
1956: Lorraine Desmarais (French-Canadian jazz pianist, musical director, composer).
1951: Bobby Caldwell (American singer, multi-musician).
1958: Neil Arthur (UK vocalist, Blancmange).
1950: Tommy Aldridge (US drummer; Black Oak Arkansas/Ozzie/Whitesnake/others/session).
1948: Patsy Gallant (Canadian pop singer, musical theatre actress).
1946: Jimmy Webb (US singer, keyboards, US popular music composer; Strawberry Children).
1945: Eddie Phillips (British lead guitarist; The Creation).
1944: Sylvie Vartan (Bulgarian pop singer).
1942: Pete York (UK drums; Spencer Davis Group).
1940: Rita Shane (American soprano).
1938: Shirley "Shan" Palmer (singer; Kaye sisters).
1938: Nesbert "Stix" Hooper (drums; Crusaders/sessionist/guest).
1934: Nino Ferrer/Nino Agostino Arturo Maria Ferrari (French-Italian singer)*13.Aug.1998.
1934: Bobby Byrd (US soul/funk singer)*12.Sept.2007
1934: Georgy Garanyan (Russian alto saxophone player; Melodia/Moscow Big Band)*11.Jan.2010.
1933: Bobby Helms (US pop singer)*June 19th 1997.
1933: Mike Seeger (US folk multi-musician, singer, folklorist; New Lost City Ramblers)*07.Aug.2009.
1933: Floyd Ashman (US vocalist; Tams).
1925: Bill Pinkney (US bass singer; Drifters/Original Drifters)*04.July.2007.
1925: Oscar Peterson (Legendary Canadian jazz pianist)*23.Dec.2007.
1909: Hugo Winterhalter (violin, reed instruments, arranger, composer)*17.Sept.1973.

August 16th.
1983: Colin Griffiths (English TV presenter and DJ).
1980: Venessa Carlton (US singer, songwriter, piano).
1980: Robert Hardy (UK bassist; Franz Ferdinand).
1977: Tamer Hosny (Egyptian singer/actor).
1976: Dave Ockun (American concert producer).
1972: Emily Erwin (US singer, songwriter; Dixie Chicks).
1970: Killah Priest/Walter Reed (American rapper).
1967: MC Remedee/Debbie Pryce (UK hip hop, rap artist; Cookie Crew)?
1966: Barry Lather (US choreographer, musician and actor).
1964: Matt Lukin (US bassist; The Melvins/Mudhoney).
1961: De la Cour/Maria Susanna Michaela Dornonville de la Cour (Swedish singer; Army of Lovers).
1960: Chris Pedersen (US drummer; Camper Van Beethoven/Monks Of Doom).
1958: Madonna/Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone (US singer, actress).
1958: Angela Bassett (portrayed Tina Turner in the film What's Love Got to Do with It?).
1957: Tim Farriss (Australian lead guitar; INXS).
1953: James "J.T." Taylor (US lead singer; Kool & The Gang).
1953: Kathie Lee Gifford (US singer and actress).
1949: William "Sputnik" Spooner (US guitarist, singer, songwriter; The Tubes/Folks-Up).
1949: Scott Asheton (US drummer; Iggy Pop's Stooges/Scots Pirates).
1948: Barry Hay (Indian-born Dutch singer, guitar, flute, saxophone; Golden Earring).
1945: Gordon "Snowy" Fleet (drummer; Easybeats)?
1945: Kevin Ayers (singer, songwriter; The Wilde Flowers/Soft Machine).
1945: Gary Loizzo (singer; American Breed).
1942: Robert 'Squirrel' Lester (US second tenor, founder member; Chi-Lites)*22.Jan.2010.
1942: Barbara George/Barbara Ann Smith (American singer and songwriter)*10.Aug.2006.
1942: Florin Amedeo Bogardo (Romanian composer and singer)*15.Aug.2009.
1934: Ketty Lester (American singer).
1931: Eydie Gormé (American latin pop artist, bolero performer).
1929: Bill Evans (US jazz pianist, bandleader)*15.Sept.1980.
1928: Carl Perkins (US jazz pianist; Max Roach-Clifford Brown/CurtisCounce)*17.March.1958.
1922: Ernie Freeman (US session pianist)*16.May.1981.
1915: Al Hibbler (US Jazz, pop, r&b singer; Duke Ellington's band/solo)*24.April.2001.
1915: Melvin 'Lil Son' Jackson (US electric blues guitarist)*30.May.1976.
1915: Murray McEachern (US jazz and swing trombonist)*28.April.1982.
1908: Orlando Cole (US classical cellist, educator)*25.Jan.2010.

August 17th
1980: Rana Hasan Manzoor (Pakistani shred guitarist; sessionist/solo/Rana Hasan Proctect).
1977: Claire Richards (vocals; Steps).
1970: Steve Cole (US award winning tenor saxophonist).
1969: Posdnuous/Kelvin Mercer (hip-hop, rapper; De La Soul).
1969: Donnie Wahlberg (vocals, producer; New Kids On The Block).
1966: Jill Cunniff (bassist, vocalist; Luscious Jackson).
1965: Steve Gorman (drummer; Black Crowes).
1964: Colin James (Canadian composer, rock-swing-blues guitarist).
1964: Maria McKee (singer, guitar; Lone Justice).
1960: Lisa Coleman (piano, keyboards; Prince's band The Revolution).
1958: Belinda Carlisle aka Belinda Kurczeski (singer; The Go-Go's/solo).
1955: Colin Moulding (bass, vocals, songwriter; XTC).
1954: Eric Johnson (US guitar virtuoso).
1953: Kevin Rowland (singer, songwriter; Dexy's Midnight Runners).
1949: Sib Hashian (drums; Boston)?
1947: Gary Talley (guitar; Box Tops).
1946: Drake Levin/ Levinshefski (US guitarist; Paul Revere & the Raiders/Brotherhood)*04.July.2009.
1944: John "The Chief" Seiter (drums, vocals; Spanky And Our Gang).
1943: Dave "Snaker" Ray (US blues singer, guitarist; John Koerner/Tony Glover)*28.Nov.2002.
1942: Muslim Magomayev (Azerbaijani operatic and pop singer)*25.Oct.2008
1939: Luther Allison (American blues guitarist)*12.Aug.1997.
1931: Derek Smith (UK jazz pianist; freelance/Doc Severinsen's Tonight Show Orchestra).
1927: Sam Butera (US saxophonist, bandleader)*03.June.2009.
1926: George Melly (British jazz pianist, blues singer, Film and TV critic)*05.July.2007.
1922: Jack Sperling (big band drummer).
1921: Betty Cody (US country music singer).
1921: Wayne Raney (US country music singer, harmonica player)*23.Jan.1993.
1920: George Duvivier (jazz double-bass player; major sessionist)*11.July.1985.
1918: Ike Quebec (American tenor saxophone player)*16.Jan.1963.
1909: Larry Clinton (US big band composer, bandleader, trumpeter)*02.May.1985.
1903: Abram Chasins (classical music composer, pianist)*1987.

August 18th
1988: G-Dragon/Kwon Jiyong (South Korean rapper, singer dancer; Big Bang).
1983: Mika/Michael Holbrook Penniman (Lebanese/British singer, keyboardist, songwriter).
1983: Danny!/Daniel Keith Swain (US record producer/hip-hop artist).
1981: Frodo/Jon Schneck (US guitarist, banjo player, bell player; Relient K/Audio Adrenaline).
updating
1971: Richard D. James/Aphex Twine/Powerpill (electronic music artist).
1965: Steely/Wycliffe Johnson (Jamaican Reggae musician, singer, producer)*01.Sept.2009.
1969: Masta Killa/Elgin Turner (US rap artist; Wu-Tang Clan).
1969: Everlast/Erik Schrody (guiatar,songwriter;Rhyme Syndicate/House Of Pain/freelance).
1967: Dan Peters (drummers; Mudhoney/Nirvana/Screaming Trees/Love Battery).
1967: Tracy Tracy/Tracy Cattell (vocals; Primitives).
1957: Ron Stryker (guitar, vocals; Men At Work).
1952: Patrick Swayze (Actor, dancr, singer, song writer).
1951: John Rees (bassist; Men At Work)?
1950: Dennis Elliot (drums; Foreigner).
1949: Nigel Griggs (UK bassist; Split Enz).
1945: Vince Melouney (guitarist; Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs/BeeGee's Band/Fanny Adams).
1945: Barbara Harris (R&B singer; The Toys).
1943: Carl Wayne [vocals, bassist; The Move)*31.Aug.2004.
1935: Sir Howard Morrison (New Zealand singer)*24.Sept.2009.
1939: Johnny Preston/John Preston Courville (US singer).
1939: Molly Bee/Mollie Gene Beachboard (US country music vocalist)*07.Feb.2009.
1906: Curtis Jones (American blues pianist)*11.Sept.1971.
1905: Enoch Light (classical violinist, bandleader, recording engineer)*31.July.1978.

August 19th
1989: Lil' Romeo/Percy Romeo Miller (rapper, actor).
1980: Darius/Darius Danesh (Scottish/Persian singer).
1978: Natasha Borzilova (Russian country vocalist; Bering Strait).
1970: Me One/MC Eric/Eric Martin (Welsh rapper;Technotronic).
1970: Fat Joe/Joseph Antonio Cartagena (US rapper; Terror Squad).
1966: Lee Ann Womack (country music singer).
1963: Joey Tempest/Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson (singer, songwriter; Europe).
1959: Steve Grimmett (UK heavy metal vocalist; Onslaught/Grim Reaper)
1957: Gary Chapman (US singer, songwriter, TV presenter).
1951: John Deacon (UK bassist, songwriter; Queen).
1951: Stuart Laughton (Canadian trumpeter; Canadian Brass).
1948: Susan Jacks/Susan Pesklevits (Canadian singer/songwriter; Poppy Family/solo).
1947: John Cuffley (drummer; Climax Blues Band).
1945: Ian Gillan (lead singer, harmonica; Deep Purple).
1945: Brian Godding (UK guitarist; Blossom Toes/B.B.Blunder/sessionist/guest).
1945: Sandro de América/Roberto Sánchez (Argentinian singer)*04.Jan.2010.
1943: Billy J Kramer (UK singer; The Dakotas).
1940: Johnny Nash (US singer).
1940: Roger Cook (vocals, songwriter; Blue Mink).
1940: Don Fardon/Donald Maughn (UK vocalist; The Sorrows).
1939: Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (UK drummer; Cream/Blind Faith/solo/guest).
1923: Dill Jones (British jazz pianist; Harry Parry Quartet/solo/freelance)*22.Jan.1984

August 20th
1980: Langhorne Slim (US folk singer, guitarist; War Eagles).
1979: Jamie Cullum (UK Jazz pianist, singer, songwriter).
1974: Big Moe/Kenneth Moore (American rapper)*14.Oct.2007
1971: Fred Durst (lead singer; Limp Bizkit).
1967: Richard Zatorski (Australian keyboardist; Real Life).
1966: Dimebag Darrell/Darrell Abbott (US guitarist; Pantera/Damageplan)*08.Dec.2004
1955: Gary Lalonde (Canadian bassist; Honeymoon Suite).
1952: Doug Fieger (Vocals, guitar rhythm; The Knack).
1952: John Hiatt (Slide Guitar, Vocals, Piano, Guitar; Solo/guest).
1952: John Clayton Jr (American jazz & classical double bassist).
1949: Phil Lynott (Irish singer-songwriter, bassist; Thin Lizzy/Grand Slam/Solo)*04.Jan.1986
1948: Robert Plant (UK lead singer, harmonica, sogwriter; Led Zeppelin/solo/guest).
1947: James Pankow (trombone, songwriter; Chicago).
1946: Ralf Hutter (lead singer; Kraftwerk).
1944: "Uncle John" Turner (US legendary drummer; Johnny Winter Band)*26.Aug.2007.
1944: Terry Clarke (Canadian session drummer).
1944: Jon Povey (UK bassist; Pretty Things).
1942: Isaac Hayes (US soul/funk singer, songwriter, musician, producer, aactor)*10.Aug.2008.
1941: Dave Brock (vocals, keyboards, harmonica, guitar; Hawkwind).
1940: John David Lantree (bass; Honeycombs).
1937: El Fary/José Luis Cantero Rada (Spanish singer, actor)*19.June.2007.
1934: Pete "Sneaky" Kleinow (US pedal steel guitarist; Flying Burrito Brothers/others)*06.Jan.2007.
1931: Paul Robi (US lead singer; The Platters)*01.Feb.1989
1926: Frank Rosolino (American jazz trombonist)*26.Nov.1978.
1923: Jim Reeves (US country singer)*31.July.1964
1911: Billy Amstell (British clarinetist, alto and tenor saxophonist)*19.Dec.2005
1905: Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden (US jazz trombonist, vocalist)*15.Jan.1964.

August 21st
1996: Jamia Simone Nash (American singer and actress).
1989: Hayden Panettiere (American actress, model and singer).
1984: Melissa Schuman (US vocalist; Dream).
1979: Kelis Rogers (US singer, songwriter).
1971: Liam Paris Howlett (UK composer, keyboards; Prodigy).
1968: Dina Carroll (UK soul singer)
1961: David Morales (US DJ, producer).
1957: Budgie/Peter Clarke (drummer; Siouxsie and the Banshees/Creatures).
1957: Kim Sledge (US vocalist; Sister Sledge).
1954: Nick Kane (US guitarist, 12 string guitar; The Mavericks).
1954: Steve Smith (US drummer; Focus/Steps Ahead/The Storm/Journey/guest/session).
1952: Glenn Hughes (UK bassist, vocals; Deep Purple/Black Sabbath/solo/guest).
1952: Joe Strummer/John Mellor (UK singer, guitar, lyricist; Clash/The Mescaleros)*22.Dec.2002.
1949: Malachi Thompson (American jazz trumpeter)*16.July.2006
1948: Robert Hazard/Robert Rimato (American musician, songwriter)*05.Aug.2008.
1947: Carl Giammarese (singer, guitar; The Buckinghams).
1946: Claire Frances Stroface (US singer, songwriter, producer)*25.July.2008.
1945: Basil Poledouris (Greek-American film score composer)*08.Nov.2006.
1944: Jackie DeShannon (singer, guitarist).
1941: Tom Coster (keyboards; Santana/guest/solo).
1938: Kenny Rogers (country singer, photographer, producer, songwriter, actor).
1915: Raquel Rastenni (Popular Danish singer)*20.Aug.1998.
1907: Hy Zaret/Hyman Harry Zaritsky (US lyricist and composer)*02.July.2007.
1904: Count Basie (American jazz pianist, organist, and bandleader)*26.April.1984

August 22nd
1978: Jeff Stinco (lead guitar; Simple Plan).
1973: Beenie Man/Moses Davis (Jamaican DJ, reggae artist).
1973: Howie Dorough (guitarist, vocals; Backstreet Boys).
1972: Paul Douchette (drummer; Matchbox 20).
1969: Steve Cradock (guitar; Ocean Colour Scene).
1967: Layne Staley (lead guitarist, singer; Mad Season/Alice In Chains)*05.April.2002.
1966: GZA/The Genius/Gary Grice (US rapper, music producer; Wu-Tang Clan).
1963: James DeBarge (singer; DeBarge).
1963: Tori Amos (singer, songwriter, pianist).
1961: Roland Orzabal (singer, songwriter, guitarist,Tears For Fears).
1961: Debbi Peterson (drums, The Bangles).
1958: Ian Mitchell (UK guitarist; Bay City Rollers/solo).
1958: Vernon Reid (lead guitar; Living Colour/Black Rock Coalition).
1957: Duane Jarvis (American guitarist, singer-songwriter; solo/sessionist)*01.April 2009.
1957: Holly Dunn (country music artist).
1956: Chris Biondo (US bassist, producer; Chuck Brown, Eva Cassidy, Sadat X).
1948: David Lee Marks (US songwriter, rhythm guitar; Beach Boys/Dave & the Marksmen).
1948: Sam Neely (Country and western artist; singer-songwriter)*19.July.2006.
1947: Donna Godchaux (singer; Grateful Dead/session/guest).
1946: Gary "Mutha" Withem (woodwinds, keyboards; Union Gap).
1945: Ron Dante (singer, songwriter, record producer; Archies).
1939: Fred Milano (second tenor vocals; The Belmonts]
1937: Malachi Favors (US avant-garde jazz sessionist, double bass player)*30.Jan.2004.
1936: Dale Hawkins (rockabilly singer, guitarist).
1926: Bob Flanagan (US tenor singer, The Four Freshmen).
1917: John Lee Hooker (blues guitarist/singer/songwriter)*21.June.2001.

August 23rd
1979: Richard Neville (vocals, Five).
1978: Julian Casablancas (vocals, songwriter; Strokes).
1977: Shelly Fairchild (American country singer).
1969: Ira Dean (US bassist; Trick Pony)?
1967: Cedella Marley (vocals; Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers).
1962: Shaun Ryder (vocals; Happy Mondays/Black Grape).
1961: Dean DeLeo (guitar, Stone Temple Pilots).
1959: Edwyn Collins (singer, songwriter, producer; Orange Juice).
1959: Bruno Chevillon (French jazz musician, double bass).
1953: Bobby Watson (US jazz alto saxophonist, composer, producer, educator).
1953: Bobby G/Robert Alan Gubby (vocals; Bucks Fizz).
1951: Jimi Jamison (vocals; Cobra/Survivor/solo).
1949: Woody Paul (US country singer-musician; Riders in the Sky)?
1949: Rick Springfield/Richard Springthorpe (singer, songwriter, guitar; Rock House/solo).
1946: Keith Moon (UK drummer; The Who)*07.Sept.1978.
1941: Pete Shannon (bassist; Nashville Teens).
1938: Roger Greenaway (songwriter, singer; The Kestrels/Blue Mink).
1938: Mike Burt (drummer; Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers/Chas & Dave).
1935: Ruby Lewis (US lead vocals, programming, tenor; The Drifters)*20.May.1964.
1934: Raul de Souza (Brazillian trombone player; sessionist).
1929: Pete King (UK jazz saxophonist; many bands/co-owner of Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club)*21.Dec.2009.
1913: Bob Crosby (US dixieland bandleader, vocalist; Crosby & the Bob-Cats)*09.March.1993.

August 24th
1970: Kristyn Osborn (US country singer; SheDaisy).
1968: Andreas Kisser (Brazilian guitarist; Sepultura).
1963: John Bush [vocals; Anthrax/Armored Saint).
1961: Colin Angus (member of electronic band Shamen).
1961: Mark 'Bedders' Bedford (bass; Madness).
1957: Jeffrey Daniel (dancer, vocals; Shalamar).
1951: Mike Derosier (drummer; Heart).
1948: Jean-Michel Jarre (French singer, Keyboards, Synthesizer; Solo).
1945: Ken Hensley (vocals, keyboards, piano, guitar; Uriah Heep/guest).
1945: Malcolm Duncan (tenor saxophone, Average White Band).
1944: Jim Capaldi (drummer, singer, songwriter; Traffic/guest/solo)*28.Jan.2005.
1943: John Cipollina (lead guitar, Quicksilver Messenger Service)*29.May.1989.
1943: Bob Sedergreen (Palestinian jazz pianist; freelance/solo).
1942: Marshall Donald Thompson (vocals; Chi-Lites).
1941: Ernest Wright Jr (vocals; Little Anthony & the Imperials).
1938: David Frieberg (bassist; Jefferson Airplane & Starship/Quicksilver Messenger Service).
1938: Mason Williams (American guitarist, composer).
1934: Jesus Caunedo (Cuban jazz clarinetist).
1932: Richard Meale (Australian composer)*23.Nov.2009.
1927: Keno Duke (Carribean jazz drummer).
1912: Fritz "Freddy" Brocksieper (German jazz drummer, percussionist)*16.Jan.1990.
1905: Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup ( delta blues guitarist, singer, songwriter)*28.March.1976
1905: Alphonse Trent (American jazz pianist; Alphonse Trent's Orchestra)*14.Oct.1959

August 25th
1988: Raymond Arthur Quinn (UK singer, actor; 2006 X Factor finalist).
1971: Brice Long (US country music singer)?
1970: Jo Dee Messina (US country singer).
1969: Luke Scott (guitar; Babybird).
1968: Spider One/Michael David Cummings (US vocalist, Powerman 5000).
1968: Stuart Murdoch (Scottish lead singer; Belle & Sebastian).
1968: Rafet El Roman (Turkish pop singer, composer).
1967: Jeff Tweedy (US bassist, singer-songwriter; Wilco/Uncle Tupelo).
1966: DJ Terminator X /Norman Rogers (rapper; Public Enemy).
1966: Colleen Browne (Canadian vocalist; Pale Saints/Heart Throbs/Parachute Men).
1965: Mia Zapata (American vocalist with The Gits)*July 07.July.1994
1965: Erik Dahlgren (Swedish drummer; Wannadies).
1965: Nigel Durham (UK drummer; Saxon/Oliver-Dawson Saxon)?
1963: Candida Doyle (keyboards; Pulp).
1962: Vivian Campbell (guitarist; Def Leppard/Whitesnake/Sweet Savage/Duo).
1961: Billy Ray Cyrus (US country singer).
1960: Cath Caroll (UK vocalist; Miaow).
1959: Mike Freeman (US marimba and vibraphone player)?
1958: Damian McKee (UK guitarist, vocalist; Albatross/Rosetta Stone).
1956: Matt Aitken (producer; Stock, Aitken & Waterman production team).
1954: Martin Jourard (US keyboardist; vocals; The Motels).
1954: Elvis Costello/Declan Patrick MacManus (singer, songwriter; The Attractions).
1953: Willy DeVille/William Boray (frontman; Mink DeVille).
1952: Geoff Downes (UK keyboardist; Asia).
1951: Rob Halford (lead singer; Judas Priest).
1951: James Warren (vocals, bassist; Korgis).
1950: Charles Fambrough (US jazz bass player; sessionist/freelance).
1949: Gene Simmons (lead singer, frontman, bassist; Kiss).
1949: Fariborz Lachini (Canadian/Iranian film composer).
1947: Keith Tippett (UK jazz pianist, composer; Stan Tracey?freelance/sessionist).
1942: Walter Williams (US vocalist; O'Jays).
1940: José van Dam (Belgian baritone vocalist; operatic/classical).
1933: Wayne Shorter (saxophonist, Weather Report).
1918: Leonard Bernstein (composer, pianist, conductor)
1913: Bob Crosby (American bandleader, singer; Bobcats)*09.March.1993
1905: Louis "King" Garcia (Puerto Rican trumpeter; Dorsey Brothers)*04.Sept.1983

August 26th
1986: Cassie/Casandra Ventura (US R&B singer).
1986: Mario/Mario Dewar Barrett (US R&B artist).
1971: Thalía/Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda (Mexican singer, actress).
1969: Adrian Young (drummer; No Doubt).
1967: Jeff Tweedy (vocals, guitar; Loose Fur/Wilco/Golden Smog/Uncle Tupelo).
1966: Shirley Manson (singer; Garbage).
1966: Dan Vickrey (guitar; Counting Crows).
1965: Annie Holland (bassist; Elastica).
1960: Branford Marsalis (Jazz saxophonist; own band).
1957: John O'Neill (guitarist; Undertones/That Petrol Emotion ).
1957: Dr. Alban/Alban Nwapa (Swedish based, Nigerian singer).
1954: Michael Chetwood [Keyboards; T'Pau).
1952: Billy Rush (guitarist; Asbury Jukes)?
1954: Steve Wright [BBC radio DJ and TV presenter).
1949: Bob Cowsill (US singer; The Cowsills).
1946: Mark Snow/Martin Fulterman (prolific composer for film and television).
1946: Valerie Simpson (one half of Ashford and Simpson US songwriting/production team).
1944: Maureen "Moe" Tucker (US drummer; Velvet Underground).
1942: Vic Dana (US singer, dancer).
1941: Chris Curtis (UK drummer, vocals; Searchers/solo)*28.Feb.2005.
1940: Nik Turner (UK saxophones, flute, vocals, composer; Hawkwind).
1938: Jet Black/Brian Duffy (UK drummer; Stranglers).
1928: Peter Appleyard (Canadian jazz vibraphonist).
1925: Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt (Chilean composer)*03.Jan.2010.

August 27th.
1986: Mario/Mario Dewar Barrett (American R&B-pop singer, actor, model, dancer).
1979: Sarah Neufeld (Canadian violinist; Arcade Fire).
1979: Jon Siebles (American guitarist, vocals; Eve 6).
1975: Mase/Mason Durrell Betha (US male rapper).
1975: Björn Gelotte (Swedish singer, guitarist, drums; Sight/In Flames).
1973: Burak Kut (Turkish pop singer, flutist, pianist).
1972: Jimmy Pop "Ali"/James Moyer Franks (US lead singer, guitar, piano; Bloodhound Gang).
1971: Chilam/Julian Cheung (Hong Kong actor and singer).
1970: Tony Kanal (British bassist; No Doubt).
1967: Bob Nastanovich (US percussionist; Pavement/Silver Jews).
1967: Ogie Alcasid/Herminio Alcasid Jr (Filipino singer, TV host, actor).
1961: Jeffrey Steele/Jeffrey LeVasseur (Award-winning US country singer, guitarist).
1961: Yolanda Adams (US gospel singer).
1956: Glen Matlock (UK bassist; Sex Pistols).
1955: Laura Fygi (Dutch singer; Centerfold/solo).
1953: Alex Lifeson/Aleksandar Živojinovic (Canadian guitarist; Rush).
1951: Kevin Kavanaugh (US keyboards; Asbury Jukes).
1950: Willy DeVille/William Paul Borsey Jr (US singer and songwriter; Mink DeVille)*06.Aug.2009.
1949: Jeff Cook (US lead guitar, vocals, keyboards, fiddle; Alabama).
1948: Pavlos Sidiropoulos (Greek singer; Damon & Phidias/Spiridoula/Oi Aprosarmostoi)*06.Dec.1990.
1947: David Leon 'Billy' Knight (US percussionist: The Pips/resident player in Vegas).
1945: Malcolm Allured (UK drums; Showaddywaddy).
1944: Tim Bogert (UK bassist; Vanilla Fudge/Cactus/Beck, Bogert & Appice).
1943: Randy Bachman (Canadian guitarist, vocalist; The Guess Who).
1942: Daryl Dragon (keyboardist; Captain & Tennille).
1940: Warren "Sonny" Sharrock (US jazz free playing guitarist)*25.May.1994.
1937: Alice Coltrane née McLeod (US Harp, Piano, Organ; jazz musician)*12.Jan.2007.
1937: Tommy Sands (US actor, pop singer).
1937: Phil Shulman (Scottish vocalist,saxophone,trumpet,clarinet,percussion; Gentle Giants).
1927: Jimmy C. Newman (American singer).
1923: Idrees Sulieman (US bop and hard bop trumpeter)*23.July.2002.
1919: Murray Grand (US songwriter, singer, pianist)*07.March.2007.
1909: Lester "Prez" Young (US saxophone, clarinet, drums; Jazz musician)*15.March.1959.

August 28th.
1991: Sarah Jane Santos (Filipina singer, actress).
1983: Alfonso Herrera (Mexican actor, singer; RBD).
1985: Cove Reber (US lead vocalist; Saosin).
1982: LeAnn Rimes (US country singer).
1979: Shaila Durcal (Spanish singer).
1978: James Maxwell Collins (US lead singer, bassist; Eve 6).
1978: Jess Margera (American drummer; CKY).
1974: Takahito Eguchi (Japanese pianist, video game music composer).
1970: Rick Recht (US Jewish singer).
1965: Shania Twain (Canadian singer).
1962: David Fincher (US video music and film director).
1961: Kim Appleby (UK singer songwriter; Mel and Kim).
1959: Eddi Reader/Sadenia Reader (Scottish singer; Fairground Attraction/solo).
1951: Wayne Osmond (US singer; The Osmonds - the eldest in the group).
1951: Keiichi Suzuki (Japanese composer, singer; Moon Riders).
1950: Martin Lamble (UK drummer, violinist; Fairport Convention)*12.May.1969.
1949: Hugh Cornwell (UK guitar, vocals; Stranglers).
1948: Danny Seraphine (US drummer; Chicago).
1946: Ken Andrews/Kenneth Andrew Doty (US drummer; Failure/Middle Of The Road).
1945: Bob Segarini (US singer, song writer; The Wankers/The Dudes/solo)
1943: David Soul (US actor, singer).
1943: Honey Lantree/Ann Margot Lantree (UK drums; Honeycombs).
1942: Sterling Morrison (US guitarist and bassist, Velvet Underground)*30.Aug.1995.
1941: John Stanley Marshall (UK drummer; Nucleus).
1941: Paul Plishka (US opera singer).
1940: Nik Turner (UK saxophonist, flute, composer; Hawkwind).
1940: Walter Ward (US R&B singer, lead vocalist; The Olympics)*11.Dec.2006.
1937: Clem Cattini (UK drummer; The Blue Flames/The Tornados/UK's top sessionist).
1931: John Shirley-Quirk CBE (UK bass-baritone operatic singer).
1927: Rowland Greenberg (Norwegian trumpeter).
1925: Billy Grammer (US country music singer and guitarist)
1917: Jayne Walton Rosen/Dorothy Jayne Flanagan (US singer; Lawrence Welk Orchestra)*10.Jan.2010.
1916: Hélène Baillargeon (Canadian singer and folklorist)*25.Sept.1997.
1913: Richard Tucker/Rubin Ticker (American operatic tenor)*08.Jan.1975.

August 29th
1985: Pouyan Afkary (Iranian-American keyboardist; Scary Kids Scaring Kids).
1982: A+/Andre Levins (American rapper).
1980: David Desrosiers (bassist; Simple Plan).
1980: Nicholas Tse (Hong Kong singer and actor).
1975: Kyle Cook (lead guitar, banjo; Matchbox 20).
1971: Alex Griffin (bassist; Ned's Atomic Dustbin).
1970: Carl "Groove" Martin (vocals; R&B band Shai).
1969: Me'Shell NdegéOcello/Mary Johnson(singer,songwriter,bassist; solo/session).
1967: Chris Gorman (drums, Belly).
1963: Jerry Fehily (drummer, Hothouse Flowers).
1960: Tony Jeff MacAlpine (lead guitarist, keyboards; Planet X/solo).
1958: Michael Jackson (US singer, songwriter, arranger, dancer; Jackson 5/solo)*25.June.2009.
1958: Elizabeth Fraser (singer; Cocteau Twins).
1959: Kevin 'GG' Michael Allin/Jesus Christ Allin (US punk rock singer)*28.July.1993.
1953: Rick Downey (drums; Blue Oyster Cult).
1945: Chris Copping (organ, bass; Procol Harum).
1943: Dick Halligan (keyboards, flute; Blood Sweat & Tears).
1940: Johnny Paris/John Pocisk (US sax player, leader; Johnny & the Hurricanes)*01.May.2006.
1933: Ramses Shaffy (Dutch singer, chansonnier, actor; Shaffy Chantant)*01.Dec.2009.
1924: Dinah Washington/Ruth Lee Jones (US jazz singer)*14.Dec.1963.
1920: Charlie Parker (American saxophonist)*12.March.1955.
1905: Jack Teagarden (US bandleader, trombonist, dixieland vocalist)*15.Jan.1964.

August 30th
1976: Kassidy Osborn (singer singer; SheDaisy).
1974: Rich Cronan (singer; LFO).
1973: Leon Caffrey (UK drummer; Space).
1966: Peter Cunnah (lead singer, songwriter; D:Ream).
1964: Robert Clivilles (producer /DJ with C & C Music Factory)
1963: Paul Oakenfold (remixer, DJ).
1961: Keith McKenzie (member of the electronic band Shamen).
1958: Martin Jackson (drums, Magazine/The Chameleons).
1954: Ronald Beitle (drummer, Wild Cherry).
1953: Horace Panter (bassist; The Specials/General Public).
1952: Kenny Andrews (guitar, vocals; Darts).
1951: Dana Rosemary Scallon (Irish singer).
1950: Micky Moody (guitar; Juicy Lucy, Whitesnake).
1946: Jim Hager (US country singer, television actor; The Hager Twins)*01.May.2008.
1946: Jon Hager (US country singer, television actor; The Hager Twins)*09.Jan.2009.
1944: Charles Colbert (bassist; American Breed).
1941: John McNally (guitar, vocals; Searchers).
1939: John Peel/John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (British DJ)*25.Oct.2004.
1935: John Phillips (vocals, guitar; Mamas and the Papas)*18.March.2001
1931: Jacques Braunstein (Romanian-born Venezuelan publicist, jazz disc jockey)*27.Nov.2009.
1928: Peter Appleyard (UK/Canadian jazz vibraphone player; all the greats).
1928: Johnny Mann (arranger, composer, conductor, recording artist, band leader).

August 31st
1982: Patrick Nuo (Swiss singer).
1979: Del Marquis/Derek Gruen (lead guitar; Scissor Sisters).
1977: Craig Nicholls (singer, songwriter, guitarist; Vines).
1970: Debbie Gibson (US singer, pianist)
1969: Jeff Russo (guitar, background vocals; Tonic).
1967: Gerard Love (bassist somgwriter; Teenage Fanclub).
1963: Larry Waddell (keyboardist; Mint Condition)?
1962: Joanna Connor (US power-blues guitarist; The Joanna Connor Band).
1962: John O.Reilly (Irish drummer; Rainbow/Blue Öyster Cult/sessionist).
1960: Chris Whitley (US blues/rock-blues guitarist)*20.Nov.2005.
1959: Tony DeFranco (vocals, production; DeFranco Family).
1957: Glenn Tilbrook (guitar, vocals; Squeeze).
1957: Gina Schock (drums; The Go-Go's).
1955: Anthony Thistlethwaite (Saxophone, Mandolin; Waterboys).
1948: Rudolf Schenker (German rhythm/2nd guitarist; Scorpions).
1946: Bob Welch (guitarist, singer; Fleetwood Mac/solo).
1945: Itzhak Perlman (Israeli-American virtuoso violinist).
1945: Van Morrison (Irish singer, songwriter; Them/solo).
1944: Roger Dean (UK contemporary artist; album covers).
1940: Wilton Felder (Tenor Sax, Bass; Crusaders).
1937: Gunter Hampel (German flautist, piano, clarinet, composer, vibraphone).
1939: Jerry Allison (US drummer; Crickets).
1928: Leroy "Hog" Cooper (US saxophonist; Ray Charles/Disney World/Smokin’ Torpedoes).
1886: Louis Wolfe Gilbert (Russian-born American Tin Pan Alley songwriter)*12.July.1970.

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LOST THIS MONTH

August ??
1991: Vaughan Toulouse aka Vaughan Cotillard (31) frontman, Department S (He died of AIDS-related illness).

August 1st
1989: John Ogdon (52) English pianist; he studied at the Royal Northern College of Music between 1953 and 1957, where his fellow students Harrison Birtwistle, Alexander Goehr, Elgar Howarth and Peter Maxwell Davies formed New Music Manchester, a group dedicated to the performances of serial and other modern works. His own compositions number more than 200, and include 4 operas, 2 large works for orchestra, 3 cantatas, songs, chamber music, a substantial amount of music for solo piano, and 2 piano concertos, the first of which he recorded. The majority of his music was composed for the piano. These include 50 transcriptions of works by composers as diverse as Stravinsky, Palestrina, Mozart, Satie and Wagner. He also made piano arrangements of songs by Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and George Gershwin. He also wrote sonatas for violin, flute and cello, all unaccompanied. A planned symphony based on the works of Herman Melville, and a comic opera, were left unfinished. The original manuscripts of many of John's compositions now reside at the Royal Northern College of Music Library Catalogue. The BBC made a film about his life titled Virtuoso, based on his biography written by his wife and fellow-pianist, Brenda Lucas Ogdon. John Ogdon was played by Alfred Molina, who won a Best Actor award from the Royal Television Society for his performance (he died of pneumonia, brought on by undiagnosed diabetes) b. January 27th 1937.
1996: Frida Boccara (55) French singer; born in Casablanca, Morocco, she submitted the song "Autrefois" to the French Eurovision Song Contest selection panel in 1964 but she was unsuccessful. At the Eurovision Song Contest held in Madrid, Spain in 1969 she represented France and performed "Un jour, un enfant" (One day a child) by Emile Stern and Eddy Marnay. Her song along with the entries from United Kingdom, Netherlands and Spain shared first place. (She died of a pulmonary infection) b. October 29th 1940.
1997: Sviatoslav Richter (82) Ukrainian pianist, widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth centuryand was well known for the depth of his interpretations, virtuoso technique and vast repertoire. His repertory ran to around eighty different programs, not counting chamber works, ranging from Handel and Bach to Karol Szymanowski, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Paul Hindemith, Benjamin Britten and George Gershwin (heart attack) b. March 20th 1915.
2007: Tommy Makem (74) Irish folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller, best known as a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, guitar, tin whistle, bagpipes and sang in a distinctive baritone. He was sometimes known as "The Bard of Armagh" and "The Godfather of Irish Music". Taking his bagpipes, he emigrated to the America in 1955, after crushing his hand in a mill accident in 1956, he started work with the Clancy Brothers in New York. During the 1960s, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy performed sellout concerts at such venues as Carnegie Hall, and made television appearances on shows like The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show. In 1969, Tommy started his solo career. He recorded around 18 solo albums and guested on many others; he also made 13 videos. His best known songs include "Four Green Fields", "Gentle Annie", "Red is the Rose", "The Rambles of Spring", "The Winds Are Singing Freedom", "The Town of Ballybay", "Winds of the Morning", "Mary Mack", and "Farewell to Carlingford". In 1997 he wrote a book, Tommy Makem's Secret Ireland, and in 1999 premiered his own one-man theatre show, Invasions and Legacies, in New York. That same year he was awarded the World Folk Music Association's Lifetime Achievement (lung cancer) b. November 4th 1932.
2009: Andy Parle (42) British drummer and founder member of the Liverpudlian indie rock band Space; he co-formed the Who-influenced Space in 1993 along with his friends and fellow musicians, vocalist Tommy Scott and guitarist Jamie Murphy. . They released their first single "Neighbourhood" in 1996; their second single "Female of the Species", was used for the theme song to the UK television series Cold Feet. Their debut album Spiders, released in September 1996, went platinum in the UK. "Female of the Species" also gained moderate airplay on college radio and MTV in America. It was followed by an American tour. Andy left the band in 1998 to pursue (he tripped and fell after trying to run across a road in Liverpool at around 11.30pm, he was later declared dead at hospital) b.October 4th 1970

August 2nd
1921: Enrico Caruso/The Great Caruso (48) Italian opera singer, actor; the most famous tenors in the history of opera, also the most popular singer in any genre in the first twenty years of the twentieth century and one of the pioneers of recorded music. (absesses from pleurisy of the lungs).
1972: Brian Cole (29) US bass player, clarinet and founder member the 1960s folk rock band The Association, the band who opened the 1967's Monterey Pop Festival. The band got their break with their second single "Along Comes Mary" in 1966 which reached No. 7 in the Hot 100, this was followed with a No. 1 hit "Cherish" in 1967, "Never My Love" at No. 2 and another chart topped in with "Windy". (heroin overdose) b. September 8th 1942.
1976: Cecilia/Evangelina Sobredo Galanes (27) Spanish singer-songwriter born in Madrid; she attained a bachelor's degree in law in Spain before dedicating herself to music and composition. In the 60s & 70s, she contributed to the existentialist and feminist movements of Spanish canción protesta with her protest songs. In 1975 she represented Spain in the OTI Festival with the song "Amor de medianoche" (Love of Midnight). She had been working on several projects, such as a tribute to Ramón del Valle-Inclán, before she died. Since her death many artists have recorded her work including Merche Corisco, Miguel Bosé, Ana Belén and Julio Iglesias (She died in a road accident) b. October 11th 1948.
1978: Carlos Chávez (79) Mexican composer, conductor, teacher, journalist, and the founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influenced by native Mexican cultures. Of his six Symphonies, his Symphony No. 2, which uses native Yaqui percussion instruments, is probably the most popular. He had his first piano lessons from his brother Manuel, and later on he was taught by Asunción Parra, Manuel Ponce and Pedro Luis Ozagón, for piano, and later Juan Fuentes for harmony. In 1916, Carlos and friends started a cultural journal, Gladios, and this led to him joining the staff of the Mexico City newspaper El Universal in 1924. In 1926 he became director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Mexicana, later renamed Orquesta Sinfónica de Mexico, Mexico's first permanent orchestra, started by a musicians' labor union and he was instrumental in taking the orchestra on tour through Mexico's rural areas. By 1945, he had come to be regarded as the foremost Mexican composer and conductor and from 1947 to 1952, he was director general of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes. It was also in 1947, when he formed the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, which supplanted the older OSM as Mexico's premier orchestra and led to the disbanding of the older ensemble. (died quietly at his daughter's home in Coyoacán outside of Mexico City) b. June 13th 1899.
1983: James Jamerson (45) American Bass Player, the uncredited bassist on most of Motown Records' hits in the 1960s and early 1970s; he has become regarded as one of the most influential bassists & the father of modern bass guitar players in modern music history. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 (heart attack) b. January 29th 1936... Read More
1997: Fela Anikulapo Kuti/Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti (58) Nigerian multi-musician, composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist and political maverick. Born in Abeokuta, Nigeriae, he played saxophone, vocals, keyboards, trumpet, guitar and drums. Fela was sent to London in 1958 to study medicine but decided to study music instead at the Trinity College of Music. While there he formed the band Koola Lobitos, playing a style of music that he would later call afrobeat. The style was a fusion of African jazz and funk with West African highlife. In 1963, he moved back to Nigeria, re-formed Koola Lobitos and trained as a radio producer for the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1969, Fela took the band to the U.S. It was here he discovered the Black Power movement through Sandra Smith (now Izsadore)—a partisan of the Black Panther Party—which would heavily influence his music and political views and renamed the band Nigeria ’70. Soon, the Immigration and Naturalization Service was tipped off by a promoter that Fela and his band were in the US without work permits. The band then performed a quick, but remarkable recording session in L.A that would later be released as The ’69 Los Angeles Sessions. Back in Africa Fela's music became very popular among the Nigerian public and Africans in general, but it was also very unpopular with the ruling government, and raids on Fela's commune, the Kalakuta Republic were frequent. During 1972 Ginger Baker recorded Stratavarious with Fela appearing alongside Bobby Gass. In the '80s with his new band Egypt 80, Fela made a number of successful tours of the United States and Europe and also continued to be politically active. In 1986, Fela performed in Giants Stadium in New Jersey as part of the Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope concert, sharing the bill with Bono, Carlos Santana, and the Neville Brothers. In 1989, Fela & Egypt 80 released the anti-apartheid "Beasts of No Nation" album that depicts on its cover U.S. President Ronald Reagan, UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and South African Prime Minister P.W. Botha with fangs dripping blood. Over the years he recorded and/or appeared on over 50 albums, "The Underground Spiritual Game" was the last to be released in 2004 (AIDS-related heart failure; more than a million people attended Fela's funeral) b. October 15th 1938.
2001: Ron Townson (68) American singer and original member of the Grammy-winning group, The 5th Dimension. Born in St. Louis Ron started singing at the age of 6 and was a featured soloist on various choirs throughout his years in school, touring with Wings Over Jordan for eight years while still in school. He was also their choir director for two years. Later he entered Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, after which he went to L.A. touring with Dorothy Dandridge for 2 years, took part in the Samuel Goldwyn motion picture production of Porgy & Bess and then later toured with Nat King Cole, as well as organizing and conducting his own 35 voice a cappella choir in Los Angeles. In 1966, Ron, Billy Davis, Jr, Lamonte McLemore, Marilyn McCoo and Florence LaRue together formed The Versatiles, but soon changed their name to "The 5th Dimension". After ten successful years with the 5th Dimension, Ron left the group, he made a guest appearance on the TV series Switch, cut records, performed solo, and formed his own group, Ron Townson and Wild Honey. In 1980, he decided to reunite with the 5th Dimension. In 1991, the group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1992, Ron appeared in the Warner Brothers film The Mambo Kings. Then in 1997, he left the 5th Dimension for good. He served on the board of directors of the Cambridge-Kilpatrick Acting School. He was honored at Lincoln University with the school's Distinguished Alumni Award (died of renal failure, after a four-year battle with kidney disease) b. January 20th 1933.
2009: Billy Lee Riley (75) American rockabilly guitarist, singer, record producer and songwriter; born in Pocahontas, Arkansas, and taught to play guitar by black farm workers. He first recorded in Memphis, Tennessee in 1955 before joining Sam Phillips at Sun Studios. His first hit was "Flyin' Saucers Rock and Roll" / "I Want You Baby" in early 1957 after which he recorded "Red Hot" /"Pearly Lee" released in September 1957 both backed by Jerry Lee Lewis on piano. Billy Lee and his backing band... his Little Green Men, which included himself, Roland Janes, J.M. Van Eaton, Marvin Pepper, and Jimmy Wilson, later joined by Martin Willis. In 1960, he left Sun, and started Rita Record label with Roland Janes. They produced the national hit record "Mountain Of Love" by Harold Dorman. He later started two other labels Nita and Mojo. In 1962, he moved to L.A. and worked as a session musician with Dean Martin, the Beach Boys, Herb Alpert, Sammy Davis Jr. and many others. But in the early seventies, Billy quit music to return to Arkansas to begin his own construction business. In 1992, he was rediscovered by Bob Dylan who had been a fan since 1956, Billy started to play again, rock 'n' roll, blues and country-blues, his 1997 album Hot Damn! was nominated for the Grammy. In 2006, he released a country CD, Hillbilly Rockin' Man (cancer) b. October 5th 1933.
2009: Stanley Robertson (68) Scottish folk singer and storyteller, born into a Traveller family who eventually settled in Aberdeen. As a teenager Stanley learned from his father to play the pipes, and picked up a more military repertoire while playing in a local cadet band. He left school at 14, and was to spend most of his working life in the fish filleting industry. His family background was rich in tradition, and from his aunt, folk singer Jeannie Robertson, he inherited a huge repertoire of north east ballads. As well as his folk music and songs, he has been recognised at home and abroad as a master storyteller, he could recall ballads and stories dating back through 500 years of oral history, and his ability to hold audiences spellbound with lengthy tales was unrivalled. He was a frequent broadcaster and appeared regularly at storytelling festivals. He was an Honorary Founder of the Scottish Storytelling Forum. In 2007 he suffered a stroke and a heart attack, but made a good recovery, and was once again in fine voice last September on a short tour of several English folk clubs (?) b. June 8th 1940.

August 3rd
1987: David Martin (50) bass player with Sam The Sham & the Pharaohs; co-wrote the group's No. 1 hit ''Wooly Bully.'' The song earned a gold record (died of a heart attack)?
1999: Leroy Vinnegar (71) US jazz bassist; his trademark was the rhythmic "walking" bass line, a steady series of ascending or descending notes, and it brought him the nickname "The Walker". (cardic arrest).
1998: Alfred Schnittke (63) Russian composer; he wrote nine symphonies, six concerti grossi, many concertos, four string quartets, and the operas Life with an Idiot, Gesualdo, and Historia von D. Johann Fausten (heart related) b. November 24th 1934.
2000: Maurice Kinn (76) dance band promoter, manager, journalist; owner of The New Musical Express, now shortened to NME, instigating the first UK charts based on record sales. The paper's first issue was published on the 7 March 1952 after he bought the paper then known as Music and Accordion Weekly (cancer).
2002: Jerry Underwood (45) British saxophone player for Pentangle, John Martyn, Spirit Level, Bullet and others (brain tumour).
2003: Roger Voudouris (48) American singer, songwriter, guitarist; born in Sacramento, California and formed Roger Voudouris Loud as Hell Rockers while still in high school. The band enjoyed some success while performing as an opening act for The Doobie Brothers, Stephen Stills and John Mayall. He released his first solo album the self titled Roger Voudouris in 1978. His second album Radio Dream contained the pop smash hit "Get Used To It" which became one of the highest selling singles in the U.S. for 1979, peaking at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. After the decline of his solo career Roger returned to writing music and lyrics for various projects including the movie The Lonely Lady starring Pia Zadora, and a documentary on the life of Elvis Presley (liver disease) b. December 29th 1954.
2005: Nick Perito (81) US composer and arranger (Perry Como, Andy Williams, Bing Crosby).
2006: Arthur Lee /Arthur Taylor Porter (61) American enigmatic and volatile frontman, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist of the legendary Los Angeles psychedelic band "Love". In the early mid-'60s, Arthur recorded some unsuccessful singles including one as the American Four, and also recorded a session for Rosa Lee Brooks that featured Jimi Hendrix as a session guitarist. Lee found his niche when he founded one of the '60s seminal garage/folk/psychedelic bands, Love, in 1965. The multiracial band recorded three groundbreaking albums that fused rock, blues and psychedelia, the self-titled Love, Da Capo and Forever Changes. In the 1990s Arthur spent time in prison for illegal possession of a firearm. But the he made a triumphant comeback in 2002, touring the US and Europe with a new version of his classic band. His live performances of Forever Changes receiving glowing reviews. (he died peacefully in his sleep in Memphis from complications arising from leukaemia) b. March 7th 1945.
2006: Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf DBE (90) German-born Austrian/British opera singer and recitalist. (natural causes).
2008: Erik Darling (74) American songwriter, folk musician; He was an important influence on the folk scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He formed The Tarriers, The Rooftop singers and played in The Weavers, having chart hits with all 3 bands, as well as his solo career (lymphoma) b. Sept 25th 1933.

August 4th
1973: Eddie Condon (67) American jazz banjoist, guitarist, bandleader, born in Goodland, Indiana; after some time playing ukulele, he switched to banjo becoming professional by 1921. He was based in Chicago for most of the 1920s, and played with jazz greats such as Bix Beiderbecke, Jack Teagarden and Frank Teschemacher. In '28 he moved to New York, where he frequently arranged jazz sessions for various record labels, sometimes playing with the artists he brought to the recording studios, including Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller. He organised racially-integrated recording sessions, when these were still rare, with Armstrong, Waller and Henry 'Red' Allen. He played in Red Nichols band of for a time. Later, from 1938 he had a long association with Milt Gabler's Commodore Records. By the late 1930s and onwards he was a regular at the Manhattan jazz club Nick's. The sophisticated variation on Dixieland music which he and his colleagues created there came to be nicknamed "Nicksieland." By this time, his regular circle of musical associates included Wild Bill Davison, Bobby Hackett, Edmond Hall and Pee Wee Russell. Eddie did a series of jazz radio broadcasts from New York's Town Hall during 1944-45 which were nationally popular. These recordings survive, and have been issued on the Jazzology label. From 1945 through 1967 he ran his own New York jazz club, after which he toured and played the festivals through to 1972 (?) b. November 16th 1905.
1975: Fumio Nanri (64) Japanese jazz trumpeter nicknamed the "Satchmo of Japan" by Louis Armstrong, one of Japan's first jazz musicians to become known outside his native country. In 1925 after he graduated from a senior high school he played in the band Takashimayain and played at dance halls before moving to Tokyo in 1928 working in Ichiro Ida's band, but after a few months he formed his own band. The following year he moved to Shanghai and studied the piano with Teddy Weatherford. 1932 sees him in San Francisco and Florida. Back in Japan in 1934 he formed his own band "Fumio Nanri and Hot Peppers". accompaning the singer Dick Mine and from 1937 to 1940 he lived in Dalian, China, returning frequently to Tokyo for recordings. After the war he reformed the Hot Peppers which included Hana Hajime, Toshiyuki Ichimura and other musicians in 1948. He went on to play with many of the greats. A long-standing Japanese jazz award "The Fumio Nanri" was named after him (?) b. December 24th 1910.
1996: James Hunter () Roadie for the UK band Oasis (crushed to death between a fork-lift truck and a lorry during the bands two days shows at Balloch Country Park, Scotland (?).
2005: Little Milton/James Milton Campbell Jr (70) US blues singer and guitarist; born in the Mississippi Delta town of Inverness and raised in Greenville by a farmer and local blues musician. By the age of 12 he had learned the guitar and was a street musician, chiefly influenced by T-Bone Walker. As a record producer, Milton helped bring artists such as Albert King and Fontella Bass to fame, while experiencing his own success for the first time. After a number of small format and regional hits, his 1962 single, "So Mean to Me," broke onto the Billboard R&B chart, eventually peaking at No.14. In the late 1960s he released a number of singles, but did not issue a further album until 1969, with Grits Ain't Groceries featuring his hit of the same name, as well as "Just a Little Bit" and "Baby, I Love You". After which he joined the Stax Label scoring hits with "That's What Love Will Make You Do" and "What It Is" from his live album, What It Is: Live at Montreux. In 1988, Milton was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and won a W.C. Handy Award. His final album, Think of Me, was released in May of 2005 (complications following a stroke) b. September 7th 1934.
2006: John Locke (62)songwriter, keyboard player in the band Spirit and also Nazareth ().
2007: Lee Hazlewood (78) American country and pop singer, songwriter and record producer, most widely known for his work with Duane Eddy and Nancy Sinatra. While living in Stockholm, Sweden he wrote and produced the one hour television show Cowboy in Sweden (renal cancer).
2008: Eri Kawai (43) Japanese singer; she both composed and sung not only classic, but also pop and world music (liver cancer) b. May 8th 1965.
2009: Mbah Surip/Urip Achmad Ariyanto (60) Indonesian reggae singer, nearly all his life he had lived in poverty, earning what money he could as a street performer. But earlier this year, 2009, over night he became famous and a mush beloved star in Indonesia when he released a single "Tak Gendong"/"I will carry you"... it became an instant hit. Mbah was recognizable by his braided hair and hearty laugh. His signature greeting was “I love you full, I love you full” which he would say over and over to everyone he met. “I love singing and I don’t mind doing it non-stop, once I sang for 60 hours with only a little sleep, but I’m happy,” he said in a recent interview with SCTV. Before the funeral, Mbah’s daughter, Resia Tri Kresnawati, held her wedding ceremony in front of her father’s remains. Resia’s wedding was originally planned to be held on August 16 in Mojokerto, East Java, but the wedding was brought forward because of Mbah’s death and a quick funeral is in accordance with Islamic teachings (heart failure) b. May 6th 1949.

August 5th
1968: Ole A. Sørli, (40) country music guitarist renowned for his work with Johnny Cash and their "boom-chicka" rhythmic style. (died in a fire he caused by smoking in bed).
1978: Pete Meaden () manager and publicist for Who (allegidly committed suicide with a barbiturate overdose just a month or so before Keith Moon's death)
1986: Michael Rudetsky (27) keyboard player; Culture Club/session (found dead of a drug overdose at Boy George's London Hampstead home).
1992: Jeff Porcaro (38) drummer and founder of the band Toto; one of the top studio drummers in pop music during the 1970s and 1980s. While still a teenager he began playing with Sonny and Cher, and during the next two decades he played behind acts ranging from Barbra Streisand to Steely Dan to Warren Zevon (heart attack caused by an allergic re-action to lawn pesticides).
1993: Randy Jo Hobbs (45) bass player with The McCoys also played with Edgar Winter Group and Montrose (drug overdose in a hotel room at Dayton Ohio).
1993: Bob Cooper (67) American reed player, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Bob, who also had the nickname Coop, was a West Coast jazz musician known primarily for playing tenor saxophone, but also for being one of the first to play solos on oboe. He worked in Stan Kenton's band starting in 1945 and married the band's singer June Christy. Bob's last studio recording was on Karrin Allyson's album "Sweet Home Cookin" in 1993, where he played tenor saxophone. (?) b. December 6th 1925.
2007: Florian Pittis (63) Romanian stage and television actor, folk music singer and radio producer;
he attended the Gheorghe Lazar High School in Bucharest and in 1968 he graduated from the Institute of Theatre. As a young actor he was hired at one of the best theatres in Bucharest, the Bulandra Theatre. In 1992, he was one of the founding members of the Romanian folk rock band Pasarea Colibri and appeared on 3 of thier 5 albums before he left the band in 2000. In 1998 he became the director of Radio Romania Tineret, known as Radio3Net since 2001, the only Romanian radio station that broadcasts exclusively on the Internet. Florian's songs were usually his own compositions, but being a great admirer of Bob Dylan, he had masterfully translated and adapted some of Dylan's songs: A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, Death is Not the End, Don't Think Twice, It's All Right, Mr. Tambourine Man, Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35, She Belongs to Me, Silvio (prostate cancer) b. October 4th 1943.
2007: Paul Rutherford (67) British trombonist with the band Iskra 1912, one of the earliest free improvising groups to omit a drummer/percussionist. Famous for solo trombone improvisations, he also played with Globe Unity Orchestra, London Jazz Composer's Orchestra, the Mike Westbrook Orchestra, Soft Machine and more (cirrhosis of the liver and a ruptured aorta) b. February 29th 1940.
2008: Robert Hazard/Robert Rimato (59) American musician and songwriter probably best known for composing and recording the song "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", which Cyndi Lauper covered, he also composed the 1980s New Wave and MTV hits, "Escalator of Life" and "Change Reaction", which he performed with his band, Robert Hazard and the Heroes, (pancreatic cancer) b. August 21st 1948.
2008: Reg Lindsay OAM (79) Australian country and western singer, songwriter and guitarist; he won three Golden Guitar Awards and wrote more than five hundred songs in his fifty-year music career. (died on his birthday of pneumonia) b. August 5th 1929

August 6th
1931: Leon 'Bix' Beiderbecke (28) US jazz cornetist and composer; he developed a style independent of the influence of Louis Armstrong & became the leading player of the Chicago style of jazz in the 1920s, noted for his gentle, clear tone and introspective approach. He played cornet on four number one hit records in 1928 recorded with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra: "Together", number one for two weeks, "Ramona", number one for three weeks, "My Angel", number one for six weeks, and "Ol' Man River", with Bing Crosby on vocals, was number one for one week. He recorded many jazz standards during his career in the 1920s and early 1930s, including "Riverboat Shuffle", "Copenhagen", "Davenport Blues", "Singin' the Blues", "In a Mist", "Mississippi Mud", "I'm Coming, and "Virginia", on his last recording session, in New York, on September 15, 1930, Bix recorded the original version of the jazz and pop standard "Georgia on My Mind" with Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra (pneumonia; his alcoholism and early death contributed to his status as one of the early romantic legends of jazz). b. March 10th 1903.
1974: Eugene "Jug" Ammons (49) American jazz tenor saxophone player, and the son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammon. He began to gain recognition when he went on the road with trumpeter King Kolax band in 1943, at the age of 18. He became a member of the Billy Eckstine and Woody Herman bands in 1944 and 1949 respectively, and then in 1950 formed a duet with Sonny Stitt. His later career was interrupted by two prison sentences for narcotics possession, the first from 1958 to 1960, the second from 1962 to 1969. Gene and Von Freeman were the founders of the Chicago School of tenor saxophone.The "soul Jazz" movement of the mid-1950s, often using the combination of tenor saxophone and Hammond B3 electric organ, counts him as a founder. He used a thinner, drier tone and could exploit a vast range of textures on the instrument (pneumonia) b. April 14th 1925.
1983: Klaus Nomi/Klaus Sperber (38) German countertenor noted for remarkable vocal performances and an unusual, otherworldly, elfin stage persona. He is remembered for bizarrely theatrical live performances, heavy make-up, unusual costumes, and a highly stylized signature hairdo which flaunted a receding hairline. (one of the first celebrities to die of an illness complicated by AIDS). b. January 24th 1944.
1994: Domenico Modugno (66) Italian singer, songwriter, actor; he became one of the first Italian artists in the popular music field able to achieve an international star status, touring worldwide and selling a million records released in different languages. Self taught guitarist, he began composing at the age of 15, starting a career devoted to acting, singing and songwriting. He made his debut in 1951 playing a role in Eduardo de Filippo's Filomena Marturano. The opportunity to attract the attention of music-related executives came after participating in a Frank Sinatra tribute broadcasted by a local radio station. In 1958, Domenico joined San Remo's Festival with a song called "Nel Blue Dipinto Di Blu," also known as "Volare." that song allowed him to achieve two Grammy awards for Album of the Year and Song of the Year. In 1959, Modugno won the Sanremo Music Festival for the second time in a row, with "Piove" (also known as "Ciao, ciao bambina"), and received second place in 1960 with "Libero." This was a successful period of time for Modugno who again represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest of 1959. Later his hit song "Io" was sung by Elvis Presley in English with the title "Ask Me." In 1962, Domenico won the Sanremo Music Festival a third time with "Addio, addio.". Then in 1966, he again represents Italy at Eurovision with "Dio, come ti amo". After acting on television and in lead singing roles of modern operas Domenico pursued a career in politics (died from a heart attack) b. January 9th 1928.
2004: Rick James/James Ambrose Johnson, Jr (56) US funk singer, bassist, keyboards, songwriter born in Buffalo, New York, U.S.; Rick was one of the most popular artists on the Motown label during the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the fortunes of Motown Records seemed to be flagging, scoring four No.1 hits on the U.S. R&B charts. Among his best-known songs are "Super Freak" and "You and I". (heart attack) b. February 1st 1948... read more
2005: Ibrahim Ferrer (78) Cuban singer; he performed with many musical groups including the Afro-Cuban All Stars. A veteran Cuban soneros whose music career had languished for thirty years when he was invited to perform on the 1997 album Buena Vista Social Club and found himself rediscovered by a whole new generation of music lovers around the world (died of multiple organ failure). b.February 20th 1927.
2005: Carlo Little/Carl O'Neil Little (66) UK drummer; an influential rock and roll drummer, based on the London nightclub scene in the 1960s. He was the first drummer with The Rolling Stones and taught Keith Moon how to play. He was also with Cyril Davies All Stars and was the founding member of Screaming Lord Sutch's Savages. (lung cancer) b. December 17th 1938.
2009: Willy DeVille/William Borsey (58) American singer–songwriter; in his 35-year career he created songs that are wholly original yet rooted in traditional American musical styles. Willy worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary music, including Jack Nitzsche, Doc Pomus, Dr. John, Mark Knopfler, Allen Toussaint, and Eddie Bo. Latin rhythms, blues riffs, doo-wop, Cajun music, strains of French cabaret, and echoes of early-1960s uptown soul can be heard in DeVille's work. He founded the rock band Mink DeVille in 1974 and they recorded six albums in the years 1977 to 1985. Over the next decades he worked out of New Orleans, LA and New Mexico, soaking up the local culture in each location. He also toured Europe frequently. In the summer of 1992, he toured Europe with Dr John, Johnny Adams, Zachary Richard, and The Wild Magnolias as part of his "New Orleans Revue" tour. Willy released 10 solo albums the last to be released being Pistola in 2008. (pancreatic cancer) b. August 27th 1950.
2009: Bahadir Akkuzu (54) Turkish guitarist and singer; he began gigging at the age of 15 and at of 17 joined the rock and roll group "4 Adam". This was followed by a stint in "The Signal" and then a long career as a member of the Turkish/Anatolian psychedelic-progressive rock band Kurtalan Ekspres, which he joined in 1980. He was a contemporary of and worked with the famous Turkish musicians Edip Akbayram, Cem Karaca and Erkin Koray (heart attack) b. 1955.
2009: Otha Young/Robert O. Young (66) American singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer and the very longtime musical partner of Grammy-Award winning country-pop artist Juice Newton. The two first teamed as the folk duo Sweet Jubal and later called themselves Dixie Peach. Their brand of progressive country rock developed as they went on to form the band Juice Newton and Silver Spur. Otha wrote, played and produced primarily for Juice, although other artists recorded his songs. He worked with her regularly until his death. As a songwriter, he was best known for Juice's 1982 hit, "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)", which reached #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary and Country charts as well as reaching #7 on the Hot 100. Other Young-penned top-ten hits include: 1978's "Sweet, Sweet Smile" (The Carpenters), 1987's "Don't You" (Forrester Sisters) and Juice's 1986 hit "What Can I Do With My Heart?". A Christmas album of standards and originals recently was completed on which Otha served as lead guitarist, writer, producer and vocalist. He was touring until March this year 2009 (cancer) b. May 10th 1943.

August 7th
1978: Eddie Calvert (56) UK trumpet player in the Stanley Black Orchestra/solo; the first British instrumentalist to achieve two No.1's. The magnificent 'Oh Mein Papa', which also sold well in the USA, topped the UK singles chart for no less than nine weeks, a British chart record, and was successful enough to provide him with the first ever 'gold disc' awarded for an UK instrumental track.(?) b.March 15th 1922
1984: Esther Phillips/Esther Mae Jones (50) US R&B, jazz, soul singer; A remarkably mature singer at age fourteen, she won the amateur talent contest in 1949 at the Barrelhouse Club owned by Johnny Otis, followed by many hits in the 50's. One of her greatest post-1950s vocal triumphs was in 1972 with the song "Home Is Where the Hatred Is" a haunting account of drug use. (liver failure) b. December 23rd 1935.
2001: Lawrence "Larry" Cecil Adler (87) US harmonica virtuoso; maybe the most renowned and most respected harmonica players of all time. After teaching himself the instrument, he began to play in front of audiences by the age of 14. He was one of the first harmonica players to perform major works written for the instrument, often written expressly for him: Vaughan Williams' Romance for Harmonica and Orchestra, Milhaud's Suite Anglais, and Malcolm Arnold's Concerto for Harmonica and Orchestra were all composed for him. (pneumonia, died peacefully in St Thomas' Hospital, London) b. February 10th 1914
2009: Gulshan Bawra/Gulshan Kumar Mehta (72) Indian songwriter, born in Sheikhupura he then moved to Delhi (after witnessing his parents death), where he graduated from the Delhi University; during these days he began to write poetry. In 1955, he took a job as a clerk at Mumbai and struggled to get a film break with his song writing. Kalyanji Virji Shah, gave him his first opening in Chandrasena in 1959 with the song ‘Main kya jaanu kahan laage yeh saawan matwala re’ sung by Lata Mangeshkar. He went on to write around 240 songs in a 42-year career (heart failure) b. April 12th 1937.
2009: Tatiana Stepa (46) Romanian folk singer (cancer) b.????
2009: Tamás Cseh (66) Hungarian singer and songwriter (cancer) b.????
2009: Mike Seeger (75) American folk multi-musician, singer, folklorist and banjo player; born in New York he was influenced throughout his early life by his mother, the modernist composer and folk music specialist Ruth Crawford-Seeger and his father Charles Seeger, who worked with musicologists John and Alan Lomax. Mike was a self-taught musician playing autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, mouth harp, mandolin and dobro. In 1958 at 25 years of of age he became a founding member of the highly influencial string band New Lost City Ramblers along with friends John Cohen and Tom Paley. They distinguished themselves by focusing on the traditional playing styles they heard on the old 78rpm records of musicians recorded during the 1920s and 1930s, many of whom would later appear on the Anthology of American Folk Music. They debuted on Folkways Records with a self titles album The New Lost City Ramblers in 1958, which was followed by a volume 2 the following year. Mike and the band released 29 albums over their very long career, the last to date being "40 Years of Concert Performances" released in 2001. The Ramblers also pioneered the practice of bringing many older rural musicians onstage with them for collaborative concerts, bridging gaps of culture and time for new audiences. Mike also had a busy solo career, touring the world and guesting with many musicians. He has recorded and/or appeared on dozens of albums, including more recently Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's 2007 album Raising Sand and Ry Cooder's 2007 album My Name Is Buddy. His influence on the folk scene is described at some length by Bob Dylan in his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One, and his dedication and great love for the old time music has been rewarded with six Grammy nominations and he was the recipient of four grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and numerous other awards. The New Lost City Ramblers's final concert, will be held in West Virginia on August 30th 2009, so sadly without this great and highly respected musician, Mike Seeger (cancer) b. August 15th 1933.

August 8th
1975: Cannonball Adderley/Julian Edwin Adderley (46) American jazz alto saxophonist of the small combo era of the 1950s and 1960s. Originally from Tampa, Florida, he played with Ray Charles when Charles lived in Tallahassee during the early 1940s. Cannonball was a local legend in Florida before he moved to New York City in 1955. He visited the Cafe Bohemia to watch Oscar Pettiford's group, but was asked to sit in as the saxophone player was late, and in true Cannonball style, he soared through the changes, and became a sensation in the following weeks. He was then asked by Miles Davis to play with his sextet, recording 5 albums with them. After which he formed his own successful quintet, which included his brother Nat. It later became a sextet, the Cannonball Adderley Sextet. As a leader he released 44 albums between 1955 and 1976. A few songs made famous by Cannonball and his bands include "This Here", "The Jive Samba", "Work Song", "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", "Walk Tall" and "Why (Am I Treated So Bad)?" among many others. Cannonball can also be heard on Louis Smith's album Here Comes Louis Smith. In the early 60's he also produced David Newman's Wide Open Spaces and Bud Powell's A Portrait of Thelonious. Cannonball was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame a few months after his death (stroke) b. September 15th 1928.
1983: Wild Bill Moore (75) US R&B saxophone player with all the early greats including "We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll", remembered today as a candidates for “the first rock and roll record”. It was one of the first records played by Alan Freed on his "Moondog" radio shows in 1951. Other later hits include “The Hucklebuck”. Performed and recorded with Slim Gaillard, Jack McVea, Joe Turner, Dexter Gordon and others, including playing on Helen Humes’ hit “Be-Baba-Leba”. He was sort out by Marvin Gaye to play on "What's Going On", "Mercy Mercy Me" and other Motown hits (?) b. June 13th 1918.
1988: Félix Leclerc (74) Canadian singer, songwriter, writer; he played a major role in revitalising the Quebec folk song, "chanson" tradition. Felix began working as a writer at Radio-Canada Montreal in 1939, developing scripts for radio dramas, where he also performed some of his earliest songs. He also acted in various dramas, including Un Homme et son péché. He published a number of his scripts and founded a performing company which presented his plays through Quebec. In 1950, he was discovered by Paris impresario, Jacques Canetti, and performed his songs in France with great success. He signed a recording contract with Polydor Records. He returned to Quebec in 1953. In 1958, he received the top award of the Académie Charles-Cros in France for his second album. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 1971, the National Order of Quebec in 1985 and became a Chevalier of the French Légion d'honneur in 1986. The Félix Awards, given to Quebec recording artists, are named after him. In 2000, the Government of Canada honored him with his image on a postage stamp (died in his sleep on the Île d'Orléans where a monument in his memory was constructed there in 1989) b. August 2nd 1914
2009: Aram Tigran (75) Armenian contemporary singer; born in Al-Qamishli in northeastern Syria, his father's family were survivors of the Armenian Genocide. After finishing grade nine, he concentrated his efforts on learning music and playing Oud and by the age of twenty years old, he was singing languages: Zazaish, Kurdish, Arabic and Armenian. He is considered among the best of contemporary Kurdish singers and musicians (passed away in Athens) b.1934

August 9th
1974: Bill Chase (39) American trumpet player and leader of a jazz-rock fusion band that bore his name Chase (plane crash). b. October 20th 1934.
1988: Giacinto Scelsi (83) Italian composer, best known for writing music based around only one pitch, altered in all manners through microtonal oscillations, harmonic allusions, and changes in timbre and dynamics, but has gone through four different creative periods. His musical output remained largely undiscovered even within contemporary musical circles during most of his life, until a series of concerts in the mid to late 1980s finally premiered many of his pieces to great acclaim. He has then been noted as a visionary of many avantgarde ideas that only later became known through the works of other composers (Died in Rome) b. January 8th 1905.
1995: Jerry Garcia (53) American guitarist, pedal steel guitarist, banjoist, vocalist, principal songwriter and main spokesman of the Grateful Dead for their entire career. In 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him 13th in their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. One of its original founders, Jerry performed with The Grateful Dead for their entire three-decade career, which spanned from 1965 to 1995. He also founded and participated in a variety of side projects, including the Jerry Garcia Band, the Garcia/Grisman acoustic duo, Old and in the Way and Legion of Mary. Jerry also co-founded the New Riders of the Purple Sage with John Dawson and David Nelson. He released several solo albums, and contributed to a number of albums by other artists over the years as a session musician. Jerry was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Grateful Dead in 1994. Guitar player Henry Kaiser, says Jerry Garcia is "the most recorded guitarist in history. With more than 2,200 Grateful Dead concerts, and 1,000 Jerry Garcia Band concerts captured on tape — as well as numerous studio sessions — there are about 15,000 hours of his guitar work preserved for the ages." (drugs-related heart attack). b. August 1st 1942
1999: Bob Herbert (56) UK manager to the Spice Girls, Bros and 5ive. (killed in a car crash in Windsor) b. February 7th 1942
2002: Paul Samson/Paul Sanson (49) English guitarist; he formed his own eponymous outfit, Samson, in 1978, which enjoyed a strong cult following in the best years of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal releasing the albums "Survivors", "Head On" and "Shock Tactics". In 1981 Thunderstick left, and Bruce Bruce, who changed his name back to, Bruce Dickinson, left to join Iron Maiden. Nicky Moore replaces Bruce and Mel Gaynor then Pete Jupp took over on drums, and this line-up released the albums "Before the Storm" and "Don't Get Mad Get Even", before he band spit in 1984. Paul spent the next 18 years in a variety of solo and group projects, including reformations of Samson, and had success as a producer, and as a blues player, spending a year in Chicago. Paul can also be heard on the recording of the Ram Jam 1977 rock hit Black Betty (died of cancer, whilst recording a new Samson album with Nicky Moore) b. June 4th 1953.
2003: Bill Perkins (79) US jazz saxophonist and flautist popular on the West Coast jazz scene; performed with Woody Herman, Jerry Wald, Stan Kenton, Art Pepper and Bud Shank to name just a few. He was also a member of The Tonight Show band from 1970–1992. He is probably most remembered, however, for playing tenor for The Lighthouse All-Stars (cancer) b. July 22nd 1924.
2007: Mario Rivera (68) Dominican Latin jazz saxophonist, performed with Machito, Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez orchestras and many others as well leading two groups of his own – The Salsa Refugees and The Mario Rivera Sextet. He doubled on all saxophones family (soprano, alto, tenor and baritone), but he lived as a multi-instrumentalist mastering instruments as C flute, G flute, piccolo, trumpet, piano, vibraphone, melodica, drums, tambora, timbales, bongó, and congas. (bone cancer) b. July 22nd 1939.
2007: Tony Wilson (57) British founder and manager of The Haçienda nightclub, and was one of the five co-founders of Factory records, also radio and TV presenter, impresario and journalist for Granada TV and the BBC. (heart attack) b. February 20th 1950.
2009: Jasmine You/Kageyama Yuuichi (30) Japanese bassist and founder member of the symphonic metal, power metal-neo, classical metal band the Versailles. With his richly designed costumes, teased hair and elaborate accessories, all of which he created himself, Jasmine has proved that beauty and fashion breaks the line which divides gender. After the demise of his indie band Jakura, he was invited by his long time friend Hizaki to join his solo project session band. During the next year, Jasmine not only performed with Hizaki grace project but participated in the recording for three of the project's releases. After which he helped form the band, Versailles, who have released one album "Noble", five singles, The Revenant Choir; A Noble Was Born In Chaos; Prince; Prince & Princess and Ascendead Master and appeared on 4 compilations over the last 2 years (?) b. March 8th 1979.

August 10th
1993: Euronymous/Øystein Aarseth (25) Norwegian guitarist of the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. He was founder and owner of the extreme / black metal label Deathlike Silence Productions, as well as the Oslo specialist record shop Helvete (murdered by fellow musician Varg Vikernes. His body was found outside his apartment with twenty three cut wounds, two to the head, five to the neck, and sixteen to the back) b. March 22nd 1968.
2002: Michael Houser (40) American guitarist and founder member of the band Widespread Panic; born in Boone, North Carolina, he graduated from Hixson High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Michael was considered to be the "silent genius" of Widespread Panic and he wrote many of the band's most well known songs, such as Porch Song, Airplane, Ain't Life Grand, and Vacation. Among others artists Michael played with over his career were Carlos Santana, Dave Matthews, Trey Anastasio, Bob Weir, and JJ Cale. (pancreatic cancer) b. January 6th 1962.
2003: Carmita Jiménez (59) Puerto Rican singer who was considered a diva in Puerto Rico; started her singing career at the young age of six, on the radio show named El Abuelito Welch (cancer) b. 1944
2006: Barbara George/Barbara Ann Smith (63) American singer and songwriter; raised in New Orleans and began singing in a church choir. She was discovered by singer Jessie Hill, and debuted with "I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)", which she wrote, was released in late 1961, topping the R&B chart and it also made No.3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Her song was later recorded by many other artistes, including the Merseybeats, Ike and Tina Turner, Fats Domino, and Bonnie Raitt. Two subsequent releases, "You Talk About Love" and "Send For Me (If You Need Some Lovin')", reached the Hot 100 later in 1962. She also sang on the Willy DeVille album Victory Mixture. Barbara largely retired from the music industry by the late 1960s, with a few comeback gigs. (a lung infection) b. August 16th 1942.
2008: Isaac Hayes (65) American soul n funk singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger, composer, and actor. He was a creative force behind southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served as both an in-house songwriter and producer with partner David Porter during the mid-1960s. In the late 1960s, he became a recording artist, and recorded successful soul albums such as Hot Buttered Soul and Black Moses as the Stax label's premier artist...read more (heart attack) b. Aug 20th 1942.

August 11th
1962: Israel Crosby (42) African-American jazz double-bassist; notable for his work done with Gene Ammons, Gene Krupa, Fletcher Henderson, Horace Henderson, Raymond Scott, George Shearing, Ahmad Jamal and Teddy Wilson (?).b. January 19th 1919.
1971: Lefty Baker/Eustace Britchforth (32) US lead guitar, banjo, vocals, for the folk- rock band, Spanky And Our Gang (Enlarged liver). b. January 7th 1939.
1985: Nick Ceroli (45) US international session drummer; spent 1965-69 playing in Herb Alpert's group, the Tijuana Brass. Recorded and played with Ray Anthony, Jack Teagarden, Gerald Wilson, Stan Kenton, Pete Jolly, Zoot Sims, Richie Kamuca, Warne Marsh , Ross Tompkins, Bill Berry, Dave Frishberg, Pete Christlieb, Bob Florence, Milt Jackson and others (?) b.December 22nd 1939
1995: Phil ' Wonga' Harris (91) singer, songwriter, jazz musician, comedian bandleader; longtime actor, but was also a successful drummer and singer. He played drums with Francis Craig and led his own groups during the 30s, using the song "Rose Room" as a theme. Harris was a regular on Jack Benny's radio show for a decade from 1936-1946 and had his own show with Alice Faye.(heart attack).b. June 24th 1904.
1996: Mel Taylor (62) Long time drummer in The Ventures, from 1962 till his death; having drummed for Boris Pickett and Herb Alpert, he joined the Ventures in 1962 to fill in for Howie Johnson. His distinct, harder-edged rock style so impressed the members of the band, that they asked him to become a permanent member of the group. (cancer). b. September 24th 1933.
2000: Jean Papineau-Couture, CC, GOQ (84) Canadian composer and academic, born in Montreal, he received a Bachelor of Arts from Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in 1937. He then attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where he received a Bachelor of Music in 1941. He studied with Nadia Boulanger at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Returning to Quebec, his career started in 1946 with the Montreal Conservatory where he stayed until 1962. He also taught in the Faculty of Music at the Université de Montréal. He was named vice-dean in 1967 and dean from 1968 until 1973. In 1968, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 1993. In 1989, he was made a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec (?) b November 12th 1916.
2006: Mike Douglas/Michael Delaney Dowd, Jr. (81) Amerian singer, TV host. Hosted The Mike Douglas Show on US television from 1961 to 1981 (?) b.August 11th 1925.
2007: Irving Herbert "Herb" Pomeroy, III (77) American influential swing and bebop jazz trumpeter and educator. He played with legends such as Charlie Parker and Lionel Hampton as well as his own jazz bands for over half a century. (cancer) b. April 15th 1930.
2008: Don Helms (81) American steel guitarist; best known as the steel guitar player of Hank Williams' Drifting Cowboys group. He played for all three Hank Williams - Sr., Jr., & III, and played on many classic country hits, including Patsy Cline's “Walking After Midnight,” Stonewall Jackson’s “Waterloo,” the Louvin Brothers’ “Cash on the Barrelhead,” Lefty Frizzell’s “Long Black Veil” , Loretta Lynn’s “Blue Kentucky Girl.” and too many to mention (complications of heart surgery and diabetes) b. Feb 28th 1927.

August 12th
1985: Kyu Sakamoto/Hisashi Oshima (43) Japanese singer and actor ranked at No.18 in a list of Japan's top 100 influential musicians by HMV; he holds the record for the first and only pop record performed entirely in Japanese to reach No.1 with his 1963's "Sukiyaki." Born in Kawasaki, Kanagawa prefecture, he sang at school and joined the Japanese pop-band "The Drifters" as a singer in 1958. In the summer of 1963 Kyu went out on a world tour that lasted to the beginning of 1964. He visited the US (including Hawaii), Germany, and Sweden. While visiting America he was a guest on The Tonight Show with Steve Allen. One of his best known and most beloved songs was "Ashita ga Aru Sa" ("There's Always Tomorrow"). It was covered by the Japanese band Ulfuls in 2001 (plane crash). b. December 10th 1941.
1997: Luther Allison (57) American blues guitarist, played with all the blues greats. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2000, the Chicago Sun-Times called him "The Bruce Springsteen of the blues". He was born in Widener, Arkansas and moved with his family, at age twelve, to Chicago, Illinois in 1951. He had taught himself guitar while in Chicago and began listening to blues extensively. Three years later he began hanging outside blues nightclubs with the hopes of being invited to perform. His big break came in 1957 when Muddy Waters invited him to the stage. He worked the club circuit throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s and recorded his first single in 1965. He played with Howlin' Wolf's band and backed up James Cotton. In 1972, was signed to Motown Records, the first blues artists to do so. By the mid 1970s he began touring Europe, and moved to France in 1977. He would not return to the United States for another fifteen years. Luther was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1998.(he had a tumor on his lung that was about to metastasize to his spine. In and out of a coma, he died five days before his 58th birthday) b. August 17th 1939.
2008: Christie Allen (53) Australian pop singer, famed for her disco style No.3 hit "Goosebumps" in 1979, and "He's My Number One" which reached number 4 in 1980; she was also the voice and star of the commercials for the soft drink Tarino. She was born in the UK, but moved with her family to Perth, Western Australia. Whilst performing in a band, Pendulum, with her brothers in Perth she came to the attention of songwriter and record producer Terry Britten, impressed by her vocal ability and bubbly personality, he began working with her and a recording contract with Mushroom Records. She released her first single "You Know That I Love You" in 1979. In 1980 and 1981 Christie released the singles - "Switchboard", "Baby Get Away", and "Don't Put Out The Flame" - from her second and final album Detour. The 1990s saw performing as a vocalist with country music bands. In 1998 Michael Gudinski sought her out via an appeal on national radio to perform at a televised tribute concert for the 25th anniversary of Mushroom Records, she retired following that performance, singing her hit "Goosebumps", before a huge crowd at the MCG on 14 November, 1998 (pancreatic cancer) b. Sept 12th 1954.
2009: Rashied Ali/Robert Patterson (74) American free jazz and avant-garde jazz drummer best known for playing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life. Rashied was born and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and moved to New York in 1963, where he worked in groups with Bill Dixon and Paul Bley and also recorded and/or performed with Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane, Arthur Rhames, James Blood Ulmer and many others. He began to record with John Coltrane from the album Meditations in November 1965 onwards. During the early 1970s, he ran an influential loft club in New York, called Ali's Alley. He briefly formed a non-jazz project called Purple Trap with Japanese experimental guitarist Keiji Haino and jazz-fusion bassist Bill Laswell. Their double-CD album, Decided...Already the Motionless Heart of Tranquility, Tangling the Prayer Called "I", was released on John Zorn's Tzadik label in March 1999. In the last years of his life, Rashied led his own Quintet. A double CD entitled Judgment Day was recorded in February 2005. In 2007, he recorded "Going to the Ritual" in duo with bassist / violinist Henry Grimes , with a second duo recording in post-production at the time of Ali's death. Ali and Grimes also played five duo concerts together between 2007 and 2009 (heart attack) b. July 1st 1935.

August 13th
1974: Harold "Tina" Floyd Brooks (42) US tenor saxophonist; best known for his work for Blue Note Records, for whom he recorded four sessions as leader between 1958 and 1961, and for whom he also recorded as a sideman with Kenny Burrell, Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, Freddie Redd, and Jimmy Smith.(liver failure) b. June 7th 1932.
1982: Joe Tex/Joseph Arrington Jr (49) US singer, he made the first Southern soul record that also hit on the charts "Hold What You've Got," in 1965. His style of speaking over music, which he called "rap", made him a predecessor of the modern style of music. (heart attack) b. August 8th 1933.
1996: David Eugene Tudor (70) US pianist and composer of experimental music;studied piano with Stefan Wolpe and became known as one of the leading performers of avant garde piano music. In his later years he took over as music director of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.(died in Tompkins Cove, New York)
1998: Nino Ferrer/Nino Agostino Arturo Maria Ferrari (63) French-Italian singer and jazz musician; born in Genoa, Italy, then, the family moved to France in 1947. He was sent to the best colleges in Paris, earning a degree in ethnology and prehistoric archaeology. As a student, his free time was spent on archaeological digs and he learned to play several instruments piano, guitar, clarinet, trombone and trumpet, he composed, wrote lyrics and became a fervent jazz lover. His first musical job was accompanying jazz musicians, first of all Richard Bennett and the Dixiecats, then Bill Coleman. At the beginning of the 1960s, he worked for several years with American singer Nancy Holloway as her guitarist. At this time he continued to write gospel-inspired songs, but after listening to Otis Redding, Sam Cooke and the likes, it totally transformed his writing style. In 1965 he recorded "Mirza", an effective cocktail of rhythm ‘n’ blues and caustic lyrics, the song was immediately a huge hit. Nino followed this up with up with "Les Cornichons" and "Oh! Hé! Hein! Bon". In 1966, he gave 195 live performances and made nearly thirty TV appearances. He went on to record around 30 albums in both French and Italian (depressed after the death of his mother, Nino shot himself in the heart in the middle of a cornfield, a few miles from his home) b. August 15th 1934.
2009: Allen Shellenberger (39) American drummer and founder member of the alternative rock band Lit, based in Fullerton, California. In 1990, Allen with friends Jeremy Popoff, A.Jay Popoff and Kevin Baldes formed a pop/glam metal band, under the name Razzle. They released a demo tape in 1990 and an EP entitled "New Vibe Revolution" in 1993. A few years later, the group changed its name to Stain, but due to another band owning the name, they changed their name to Lit in 1996. They shot to fame in 1999 with their 4th album "A Place in the Sun" which went platinum and produced the hit single, "My Own Worst Enemy," which held the number one position for three months, and received a Billboard Music Award for the biggest modern rock song of 1999.They released several other singles in the 1990s and early 2000s including "Miserable", "Zip-Lock", "Over My Head", "Lipstick and Bruises", "Addicted", "Looks Like They Were Right" and "Times Like This". Their last of 7 released albums "Lit" was released in 2004. (Allen was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour in May of 2008) b. September 15th 1969.
2009: Les Paul/Red Hot Red/Lester William Polfus (94) American musician, and inventor; one of the most important figures in the development of the electric guitar and studio recording techniques. Born in Wankesha, Wisconsin, USA. Les began playing guitar and other instruments while still a child. In the early 30s he broadcast on the radio and in 1936 was leading his own trio. In the late 30s and early 40s he worked in New York, where he was featured on Fred Waring's radio show. He made records accompanying singers such as Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters. Although his work was in the popular vein, with a strong country leaning, Les was highly adaptable and frequently sat in with jazz musicians. One of his favourites was Nat "King" Cole, whom he knew in Los Angeles, and the two men appeared together at a Jazz At The Philharmonic concert in 1944, on which Les played some especially fine blues. Les also hosted a 15-minute radio program, The Les Paul Show, on NBC in 1950, featuring his trio (himself, Ford, and rhythm player Eddie Stapleton) and his electronics, recorded from their home and with gentle humor between Les and Mary bridging musical selections, some of which had already been successful on records, some of which anticipated the couple's recordings, and many of which presented re-interpretations of such jazz and pop selections as "In the Mood," "Little Rock Getaway," "Brazil," and "Tiger Rag." Several recordings of these shows survive among old-time radio collectors today. The show also appeared on television a few years later with the same format, but excluding the trio and retitled The Les Paul & Mary Ford Show (aka Les Paul & Mary Ford At Home) with "Vaya Con Dios" as a theme song. Dissatisfied with the sound of the guitars he played, Les developed his own design for a solid-bodied instrument, which he had made at his own expense. Indeed, the company, Gibson ..... READ MORE (complications from pneumonia) b. June 9th 1915.

August 14th
1958: Gladys Love Presley (46) Elvis Presley's mother ().
1964: Johnny Burnette (30) US singer; a Rockabilly pioneer, long with his older brother Dorsey Burnette and friend Paul Burlison, he was a founding member of The Rock and Roll Trio.(his tiny unlit fishing boat was struck by an unaware cabin cruiser on Clear Lake, California. The impact threw him off the boat and he drowned).
1971: King Curtis/Curtis Ousley (37) American saxophone player, sessionist and band leader, his band The Kingpins also backed Aretha Franklin. He was also a musical director and record producer. He was best known for his distinctive sax riffs and solos such as on "Yakety Yak", which later became the inspiration for Boots Randolph's "Yakety Sax" and his own "Memphis Soul Stew". In 1970, King won the Best R&B Instrumental Performance Grammy for "Games People Play" and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 6th 2000. (tragically he was stabbed to death by Juan Montanez, a vagrant drug addict on the front steps of his New York home) b. February 7th 1934.
1972: Oscar Levant (65) American pianist, composer, author, comedian, and actor. He was more famous for his mordant character and witticisms, on the radio and in movies and television, than for his music (heart attack).
1988: Robert Calvert (43) Sth African born-British writer, poet and singer, born in Pretoria, he moved to England when he was two years of age and attended school in London and Margate. He began his career by writing poetry and in 1967 formed a Street Theatre group Street Dada Nihilismus. He was best known as the lead singer, poet and frontman of Hawkwind intermittently from 1972-1979 during which time he co-wrote their hit single "Silver Machine" and directed their Space Ritual Tour. During periods away from Hawkwind duties, and after finally leaving the group in 1979, Robert worked on his solo career, his creative output including albums, stage plays, poetry, and a novel. His first solo album, Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters, attained mainstream success. His other musical collaborators include Michael Moorcock, Brian Eno, Arthur Brown, Jim Capaldi, Steve Pond, Inner City Unit, Vivian Stanshall, Nektar, John Greves, Adrian Wagner, Amon Düül II, and Spirits Burning (died of a heart attack in Ramsgate, England) b. March 9th 1945.
1988: Roy Buchanan (48) US guitar virtuoso, has long been considered one of the finest, yet criminally one of the most overlooked guitarists of the blues rock genre (hanged himself in a jail cell, while the police were doing a routine check after he had been arrested for drunkeness).
1992: Tony Williams (64) US lead singer of The Platters (died in his sleep in New York).
2002: Dave Williams (30) lead singer; Drowning Pool (found dead on the tour bus during Ozzy Osbourn Ozzfest tour in Manassas, he had been suffering from an undiagnosed heart disease).
2004: Pete Strange (65) UK trombonist; sideman to Humphrey Lyttelton for over two decades, moonlighting with his own Great British Jazz Band all-star revue ().
2006: Johnny Duncan (67) Country music singer (heart attack at a Fort Worth Hospital).
2008: Lita Roza (82) UK singer; her 1953 No.1 hit record "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" made her the first British female singer to top the UK Singles Chart, and the first Liverpudlian to do so from 57 Liverpudlian No.1 hits. She was voted the 'Top British Female Singer' in the New Musical Express poll winners' charts from 1951 to 1955. Melody Maker readers also voted her their 'Top Girl Singer' in the dance band section of their polls in 1951 and 1952. At the age of 12 she saw an advertisement in the local newspapers for juvenile dancers and passed the audition. She took to the stage at that age in a pantomime and by the time she was 15 was working with fellow Merseysider comedian, Ted Ray. Shortly afterwards signed up with the Harry Roy Orchestra in London. She moved on from this to work with other bands of the era including that of Edmundo Ros. Lita made three appearances in the UK heats for selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, in 1957, 1959 and 1960. On 28 November 2002 in Liverpool, she gave her last public performance on Radio Merseyside. A 22 track The Best Of Lita Roza was released in 2007 (died peacefully at home) b. March 14th 1926.
2009: Warren "Gates" Nichols (65) American steel guitarist; born in New York and founder member of Confederate Railroad, a country music band founded in 1984 in Marietta, Georgia by Gates on steel guitar, and his friends Danny Shirley (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Michael Lamb (lead guitar), Mark Dufresne (drums), Chris McDaniel (keyboards), and Wayne Secrest (bass guitar). After serving as a backing band for outlaw country act David Allan Coe, the band signed to a recording contract with Atlantic Records, releasing their self-titled debut album that year. The album produced six hit singles and was certified 2× Multi-Platinum in the U.S. In 1993, Confederate Railroad was awarded Best New Group at the ACM awards. More than twenty of their singles have entered the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts including "She Took It Like a Man", "Jesus and Mama", "Queen of Memphis" (their highest chart peak, at #2), "When You Leave That Way You Can Never Go Back", "Trashy Women" and "She Never Cried" and have released ten studio albums. The band's most recent compilation, a compilation of cover songs entitled Cheap Thrills, was issued on the independent Shanachie label in 2007. Gates retired from Confederate Railroad in December 2008, but sadly, the following July, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer (cancer) b. May 26th 1944.
2009: Lawrence Lucie (101) American jazz guitarist; born in Emporia, Virginia, he learned banjo, mandolin, and violin as a child and played with his family at dances. He studied banjo in New York City at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, but switched to guitar when he started a professional career. He was the guitarist for orchestras led by Duke Ellington, Benny Carter, Fletcher Henderson, the Mills Blue Rhythm Band, Coleman Hawkins and Louis Armstrong; he was also the best man at Louis Armstrong's wedding. He recorded with all of them except Ellington. He can also be found on record with Teddy Wilson and Billie Holiday, Spike Hughes, Putney Dandridge, Big Joe Turner, Red Allen, and Jelly Roll Morton. After the big band era passed, he played in a quartet with his wife Nora Lee King. In the 1950s he played with Luis Russell, Louie Bellson, and Cozy Cole, in addition to a lot of session work. Lawrence continued to record with his wife for his own label, Toy Records, into the 1980s. He also taught at the Borough of Manhattan Community College for three decades, retiring in 2004 (He died in New York City) b. December 18th 1907.

August 15th
1971: Thomas Wayne Perkins (29) American hillbillie singer; born in Batesville, Mississippi; he was cousin to Carl Perkins and his brother, Luther, played guitar for Johnnie Cash. Jim released several singles between 1958 and 1964, having a major U.S. hit with the song "Tragedy", credited to Thomas Wayne with the DeLons, which peaked at No.20 on the Black Singles chart and No.5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. It sold over one million copies, earning him gold disc status. He later worked as a sound engineer, before his tragic premature death (car crash) b. July 22nd 1940.
1978: Irene Kral (46) US jazz singer; inspired by Carmen McRae, Irene started singing professionally as a teenager. She sang with bands led by Woody Herman and Chubby Jackson. After which in the late 1950s she joined Maynard Ferguson's band and sang with groups led by Stan Kenton and Shelly Manne. She then started a solo career until her death. Irene was made more famous posthumously when Clint Eastwood used her recordings in his 1995 movie, The Bridges of Madison County (breast cancer) b. January 18th 1932.
1992: Jackie Edwards/Wilfred Gerald Edwards (54) Jamaican singer-song writer; he worked with Chris Blackwell from 1959 and when Blackwell set up Island Records in London in 1962, Jackie travelled with him. He worked as a singer and songwriter for Island as well as performing duties such as delivering records. He wrote "Keep On Running" that became a No.1 single in the UK for The Spencer Davis Group and was used in opening sequence in the 1988 film Buster. He also wrote "Somebody Help Me", another No.1 single for The Spencer Davis Group. He also worked as a producer, co-producing the 1977 album Move Up Starsky by The Mexicano. Jackie also recorded 20 solo albums between 1963 to the mid '80s, his final recording being Musical Treasures Disco Style (heart attack) b. 1938
2007: John Wallowitch (81) American composer, songwriter and cabaret performer. He wrote over 2,000 songs which have been recorded by Shirley Horn, Tony Bennett, Berri Blair, John Dubois, Marlene VerPlanck, Lynn Lobban and many others. For over 50 years he played and sang a catalogue of original songs at nightspots around the world. He is also known for his sophisticated takes on the songs of Irving Berlin. Born in in Sth Philadelphia, he moved to New York in his late teens to study classical piano at Juilliard. In order to survive, he played rehearsal piano for shows, among them Leonard Sillman's New Faces of '52, and began to play at the Duplex, a Greenwich Village saloon. His first professional appearance was on the Lithuanian Furniture Company Radio Hour, Station WHAT, on which he rendered Irving Berlin's "So Help Me". As a solo cabaret entertainer, John performed throughout the world and was famous for his long-running hit revue, The World of Wallowitch. He was the recipient of both the MAC and Bistro Awards for Composer of the Year. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, John was part of a popular cabaret act with his longtime partner, Bertram Ross. They sang in nightspots ranging from London's Pizza on the Park to the Ballroom in New York City. A CD of their performance cabaret, “Wallowitch and Ross” was released in 2003 to accompany the documentary film of the couple, "Wallowitch & Ross: This Moment" (bone cancer) b. February 11th 1926.
2009: Florin Amedeo Bogardo (67) Romanian composer and singer; her dozens of creations include Tu, aprinsa stea; Iarna; Cîndva o luntre alba; Cum e oare?; Ma uit la tine, toamna; Plop înfrînt; Iubirea cea mare; Ceramica; Izvorul noptii; Sa nu uitam trandafirii; Un vis romantic; Apa vietii; Într-o zi cînd m-am nascut; Tu esti primavara mea; Un fluture si o pasare; Luna pamînteana;Adevarul despre alchimie; Ceas de taina; E primavara profesor; Taci; and Între soare, între stele. Florin was married to Romanian singer Stela Enache (died after a long illness.) b. August 16th 1942.
2009: Jim Dickinson (67) American pianist, singer and record producer; after attending school at Baylor University, he returned to his hometown Memphis and played on recording sessions for Bill Justis and at Chips Moman's American Studios. He recorded what has been called the last great record on the Sun label, "Cadillac Man" / "My Babe" by the Jesters, although he was not an actual member of the group, Jim played piano and sang lead on both sides. In the late 1960s, he co-founded the "Dixie Flyers" and provided backup for musicians recording for Atlantic Records, including Aretha Franklin's Spirit in the Dark. Jim also played piano on The Rolling Stones' hit Wild Horses and on The Flamin Groovies' track Teenage Head. In 1972 he released his first solo album, "Dixie Fried". In the 1970s he became known as a producer, producing Willy DeVille, Green on Red, Mojo Nixon, The Replacements, Tav Falco's Panther Burns and Screamin' Jay Hawkins, among many others, as well as producing an aural documentary of Memphis' Beale Street, Beale Street Saturday Night, which featured performances by Sid Selvidge, Furry Lewis and Dickinson's band Mud Boy and the Neutrons. He has also worked with Ry Cooder and Bob Dylan. In 1998, he produced Mudhoney's, Tomorrow Hit Today. In 2007 Jim played the Memphis-based rock band, Snake Eyes, although the band disbanded in October 2008, they did complete two full albums, not yet released (died at Methodist Extended Care Hospital in Memphis, following triple bypass heart surgery) b. November 15th 1941

August 16th
1938: Robert Leroy Johnson (27) American guitar virtuoso, considered to be the "Grandfather of Rock 'n' Roll", who supposedly sold his soul to Satan "at the crossroads" in exchange for his remarkable talent on the guitar which he seemed to acheive in a couple of months; born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, he was influenced by the artist Eddie James "Son" House Jr, Robert would later record versions of "Preaching the Blues" and "Walking Blues" in Son's vocal and guitar style. When Johnson arrived in a new town, he would play for tips on street corners or in front of the local barbershop or a restaurant. Robert visited H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi, who ran a general store and doubled as a talent scout, who put him in touch with Ernie Oertle. Ernie recorded Robert on November 23th 1936 in rooms at the Gunter Hotel, Brunswick Records temporary studio in San Antonio. In the three-day session, Robert recorded 16 songs including "Come On In My Kitchen," "Kind Hearted Woman Blues," "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom", "Cross Road Blues", "Terraplane Blues" and "Last Fair Deal Gone Down". In 1937, he traveled to Dallas, Texas, for another recording session in a makeshift studio at the Brunswick Record Building, 508 Park Avenue. Eleven records from this session would be released within the following year including "Stones In My Passway" "Hellhound On My Trail", and "Me And The Devil". Robert's life is sketchy and shroaded in myths and mystery, but in his very short life he became one of the most influential delta blues singer/guitarists in modern day music, influencing the likes of Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Elvis Presley and so many more musicians and singers (mysterious circumstances; poisoned after drinking whiskey laced with strychnine. They say he recovered from the initial poisoning only to contract pneumonia, he died 3 days after the poisoning. Death certificate read "no doctor") b. May 8th 1911.
1977: Elvis Presley (42) American singer, musician and actor, The King of Rock 'n' Roll; the single most important figure in American 20th century popular music; besides pop and rock 'n roll, he brought the blues, black music and gospel to the world. Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, he made his first public performance on October 3rd 1945, in a singing contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, dressed as a cowboy, Elvis had to stand on a chair to reach the microphone and sang Red Foley's "Old Shep." He came in fifth, winning $5 and a free ticket to all the Fair rides. He began his career as one of the first performers of rockabilly, an uptempo fusion of country and R&B with a strong back beat. On July 18, 1953, he went to Sun Records' Memphis Recording Service to record "My Happiness" with "That's When Your Heartaches Begin", then on January 4, 1954, he cut a second demo recording of "I'll Never Stand In Your Way" and "It Wouldn't Be The Same Without You". His novel versions of existing songs, mixing "black" and "white" sounds, made him popular and controversial, as did his uninhibited stage and TV performances. With his versatile voice he covered many genres, including rock and roll, gospel, blues, country, ballads and pop. In the 1960s, he also made 31 movies. To date, he has been inducted into four music halls of fame. Throughout his career, he set records for concert attendance, television ratings and recordings sales. He is one of the best-selling solo artists in the history of music, selling over one billion records worldwide. Among his many awards and accolades are 14 Grammy nominations, with 3 wins, from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award which he received at the age of 36, and was named One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees. (found death lying on the floor in his bathroom where he had been reading 'The Scientific Search For Jesus'. He died of heart failure) b. January 8th 1935.
1997: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (49) World-renowned Pakistani musician, primarily a singer of Qawwali, the devotional music of the Sufis, a mystical sect of Islam. He featured in Time magazine's 2006 list of 'Asian Heroes'. Among other honorary titles bestowed upon him, Nusrat was called Shahenshah-e-Qawwali, meaning The Emperor of Qawwali. Nusrat reached out to Western audiences through his work with Peter Gabriel on the soundtrack to The Last Temptation of Christ in 1985, his collaborations with Canadian musician Michael Brook, on the albums Mustt Mustt in 1990 and Night Song in 1996 and his work with Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder in 1995 on two songs for the soundtrack to Dead Man Walking. He also contributed to the soundtrack of Natural Born Killers. He also performed traditional Qawwali before international audiences at several WOMAD world music festivals and the single Dam Mast Qalandar was remixed by electronic trip hop group Massive Attack in 1998. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Nusrat holds the world record for the largest recorded output by a Qawwali artist, a total of 125 albums as of 2001, but many posthumous albums have been released since then (sudden cardiac arrest due to kidney and liver failure) b. October 13th 1948.
2000: Alan Caddy (60) UK guitarist; born in Chelsea, London he was educated at Emanuel School and the Royal Academy of Music. He was lead guitarist in Johnny Kidd & The Pirates and can be heard on hits such as "Shakin' All Over", "Please Don't Touch", "Growl", "Feelin'", "You Got What It Takes", "Restless", "Linda Lu" and "Weep No More Baby". After which he helped form The Tornados, having the Joe Meek produced huge hit single, "Telstar" in 1962 and the Tornados were also Billy Fury's backing band. Alan later worked as music director and arranger for Polydor Records, before switching to the Fontana record label where he produced and arranged material for Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. Alan also played on sessions and worked on arrangements for Tony Blackburn, Elkie Brooks, the Spencer Davis Group, Kiki Dee, Pretty Things and Dusty Springfield. His last public appearance was in 1991 at a memorable Joe Meek Reunion Concert at Lewisham where the original Tornados, played Telstar (?) b. February 2nd 1940.
2007: Max Roach (83) American bebop/hard bop percussionist, drummer and composer, considered to be one of the most important drummers in history. His most significant innovations came in the 1940s, when he and jazz drummer Kenny Clarke devised a new concept of musical time. By playing the beat-by-beat pulse of standard 4/4 time on the "ride" cymbal instead of on the thudding bass drum, he and Clarke developed a flexible, flowing rhythmic pattern that allowed soloists to play freely. The new approach also left space for the drummer to insert dramatic accents on the snare drum, "crash" cymbal and other components of the trap set. He was one of the first drummers (along with Kenny Clarke) to play in the bebop style, and performed in bands led by Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Coleman Hawkins, Bud Powell, and Miles Davis. Roach played on many of Parker's most important records, including the Savoy 1945 session, a turning point in recorded jazz. In 1952, he co-founded Debut Records with bassist Charles Mingus. The label released a record of a concert, billed as "the greatest concert ever," called Jazz at Massey Hall, featuring Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Mingus and himself. Also released on this label was the groundbreaking bass-and-drum free improvisation, Percussion Discussion. During the 1970s, Max formed a unique musical organization, "M'Boom", a percussion orchestra which included Fred King, Joe Chambers, Warren Smith, Freddie Waits, Roy Brooks, Omar Clay, Ray Mantilla, Francisco Mora, and Eli Fountain. Max recorded over 140 albums as a leader and sideman with most of the greats, as well as all the above mentioned other artists include J.J. Johnson, Stan Getz, Don Byas Quartet, Sonny Stitt, Howard McGhee, George Wallington, Joe Holiday, Hazel Scott, Dinah Washington, Al Cohn, Kenny Dorham, Booker Little, Abbey Lincoln, Duke Ellington, Archie Shepp, Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor to mention a few. In 1986 the London borough of Lambeth named a park in Brixton after him, he was given a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant in 1988, cited as a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in France, twice awarded the French Grand Prix du Disque, elected to the International Percussive Art Society's Hall of Fame and the Downbeat Magazine Hall of Fame, awarded Harvard Jazz Master, celebrated by Aaron Davis Hall, given eight honorary doctorate degrees, including degrees awarded by Medgar Evers College, CUNY, the University of Bologna, Italy and Columbia University. While spending the later years of his life at the Mill Basin Sunrise assisted living home, in Brooklyn, Max was honored with a proclamation honoring his musical achievements by Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz (?) b. January 10th 1924.
2008: Dorival Caymmi (94) Brazilian songwriter and singer; he had a distinctive style of his own and was the writer of many classic songs. The sambas, such as O Samba Da Minha Terra, have become standards of Música Popular Brasileira. He also wrote ballads celebrating the fearless fishermen of Bahia, including Promessa de Pescador and O Vento (multiple organ failure) b. April 30th 1914
2008: Ronnie Drew (73) Irish singer, he founded the Ronnie Drew Group with Luke Kelly, Barney McKenna and Ciaran Bourke which later became The Dubliners, and would become one of the best known Irish folk groups. He was a member of The Dubliners until 1995, when he pursued a solo career. He recorded with many artists, including the Dropkick Murphys, Christy Moore, The Pogues, Antonio Breschi, Eleanor Shanley and others (after long illness) b. September 16th 1934.
2008: Johnny "Dizzy" Moore (70) Jamaican trumpeter, a main founding member of pioneering Jamaican ska and reggae act The Skatalites; he attended the Alpha Boys School, renowned for its strong musical programme, while at the school he took up the trumpet and studied musical composition under bandleader Ruben Delgado. On leaving the school, he joined the army, playing in the Jamaica Military Band. He then joined the Mapletoft Poulle Orchestra, and Eric Dean's band, but was thrown out for growing dreadlocks. He regularly visited the Rastafarian camp led by Count Ossie at Wareika Hill, and worked as a session musician in the early 1960s, and played in studio band The Cavaliers. He and other Cavaliers members Jackie Mittoo, Lloyd Brevett, and Lloyd Knibbs then joined with Tommy McCook in a new band The Skatalites in 1964. In October 2007, Dizzy was awarded the Order of Distinction in the Rank of Officer (OD) for pioneering work in popularising Jamaican music (colon cancer) b. August 5th 1938.

August 17th
1973: Paul Williams (34) founding member and original lead singer and tenor/baritone of The Temptations. Along with David Ruffin, Otis Williams (no relation), Eddie Kendricks and Melvin Franklin, he was a member of The Temptations during their most successful years in the 1960s, from its founding in 1960 until 1971, when personal problems and failing health forced him to retire. (He owed $80,000 in taxes & his celebrity boutique business had failed and allegidly shot himself in a deserted parking lot, but with the very unusual evidence could have been foul play).
1982: Benjamin Ashburn (54) manager of the Commodores (heart attack).
1983: Ira Gershwin/Israel Gershowitz (86) American lyricist born in New York City, US, who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century. They teamed up in 1924, and with George he wrote more than a dozen Broadway shows, featuring songs such as "I Got Rhythm", "Embraceable You", "The Man I Love" and "Someone to Watch Over Me", and the opera Porgy and Bess. The success the brothers had with their collaborative works has often overshadowed the creative role that Ira played. However, his mastery of songwriting continued after the early death of George. He wrote additional hit songs with composers Jerome Kern, "Long Ago (and Far Away)", Kurt Weill and Harold Arlen. His critically acclaimed book Lyrics on Several Occasions of 1959, an amalgam of autobiography and annotated anthology, is an important source for studying the art of the lyricist in the golden age of American popular song. As well as the joint awards with his brother, three of Ira's songs were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, "They Can't Take That Away From Me", "Long Ago and Far Away" and "The Man That Got Away". Ira, along with George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, received the 1932 Pulitzer Prize for "Drama for Of Thee I Sing" (died in Beverly Hills, California) b. December 6th 1896.
1983: Michael "Mickey" Smith (27) Jamaica's best known dub poet, musician; In 1978, he represented Jamaica at the 11th World Festival of Youth and Students in Cuba. Worked on a session with John Peel in 1982. (murdered, stoned to death by political agitators)
1987: Gary Chester (62) Drummer with the Coasters, Monkies, Van Morrison, etc; became the top East Coast session drummer, and together with his West Coast counterpart, Hal Blaine, they played on a majority of the hits of the late fifties and early and mid-'60s. Estimated the number of sessions he played is over 15,000.(cancer).
1995: Wild Bill Davis/William Strethan Davis (76) American organist, jazz artist; best known for his pioneering jazz electronic organ recordings and for his seminal four-year tenure with the Tympany Five, the legendary backing group for Louis Jordan. He originally played guitar and wrote arrangements for Milt Larkin's texas based big band during 1939–1942, after which he worked in Chicago as a pianist, recording with Buster Bennett in 1945. He played a crucial role as the pianist-arranger in Louis Jordan's Tympany Five at the peak of their success. After leaving Jordan. Bill switched from piano to organ, and moved to the East Coast. In 1950, he began leading an influential trio of organ, guitar, and drums, which recorded for OKeh. Bill was originally supposed to record "April in Paris" with Count Basie's Orchestra in 1955 but when he could not make the session, Basie used his arrangement for the full band and had a major hit. As well as working with his own groups in the 1960s, he made several albums with his friend Johnny Hodges, leading to tours during 1969–1971 with Duke Ellington. In the 1970s he recorded for the Black & Blue records label with a variety of swing all-stars, and he also played with Lionel Hampton, appearing at festivals through the early 1990s (heart attack) b. November 24th 1918.
2004: Bertrand Odom (72) bass guitar player in the James Brown Band for 40 years. (died of kidney failure).
2004: Dennis Miles/D-Roc the Executioner (45) US musician; played rhythm guitar for the heavy metal band Body Count and played guitar for his own band Pitch Blaack. He referred to his style as "ghetto metal". He performed wearing a goalie mask (lymphoma)

August 18th
1991: Rick Griffin (47) US artist; the leading designer of psychedelic posters he pushed the rock music art of the psychedelic era to new creative peaks (fatal motorcycle accident, ironically, his last published work, was a self-portrait depicting Griffin entering heaven's gates, pen and ink clutched firmly in hand).
1994: Charles Redland (82) Jazzman playing saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, vibes, accordion, lead many bands ().
1999: Johnny Byrne (60) guitarist, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes ()?
2003: Tony Jackson (63) bass player, singer, Searchers (cirrhosis of the liver).
2007: Jon Lucien/Lucien Harrigan (65) US smooth jazz singer-songwriter born on the island of Tortola, the main island of the British Virgin Islands; probably best known for his song "Rashida", the title track of an album released in 1973, and one of two Grammy nominated songs on that album. He was also known for his cover of "Dindi" by Antonio Carlos Jobim. His smooth baritone drew comparisons with Nat King Cole and Lou Rawls. He was often heard on traditional jazz stations in the United States such as WJZZ in Detroit, Michigan (now WDMK). His smooth baritone drew comparisons with Nat King Cole and Lou Rawls.(respiratory failure and complications of kidney surgery) b. January 8th 1942.
2008: Pervis Jackson (70) American R&B bass singer for The Spinners; he was one of the group's original members in 1957 and sang with the group for 51 years, until his death (cancer) b. May 17th 1938.
2009: Hildegard Behrens (72) German soprano with a wide repertory including Wagner, Weber, Mozart, Richard Strauss and Alban Berg roles. She began her musical career singing small roles at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf where she stayed for six years. Then in the 1975-76 season, while rehearsing Wozzeck, she was "discovered" by Herbert von Karajan, who was then looking for his new Salome. She was summoned to Berlin to audition for the role. Karajan liked what he heard and invited her to portray the role at the 1977 Salzburg Festival. She was the recipient of many awards - among them the highest civilian honors given by the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesverdienstkreuz or Order of the Merit Cross of the Federal Republic) and by the state of Bavaria (the Bayerischer Verdienstorden), and the titles of Bayerische Kammersängerin and Österreichische Kammersängerin bestowed by the Bavarian State Opera and the Vienna State Opera respectively. In 1990 she won the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording: Richard Wagner's Die Walküre, with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. In 1998, she received Denmark's most prestigious Leonie Sonning Music Prize and in 1999 the Vienna State Opera honored her with the Lotte Lehmann Ring, bequeathed to her by the late dramatic soprano Leonie Rysanek (aortic aneurysm) b. February 9th 1937.

August 19th
1979: Dorsey Burnette (46) Rockabilly singer, bass, guitar; the brother of Johnny Burnette and a member of the Johnny Burnette Trio/ solo (heart attack).
2001: Betty Everett (61) American soul / R&B singer; From the 1980s until her death, she was involved in the Rhythm & Blues Foundation and the churches of the Fountain of Life and New Covenant. (heart attack).
2007: Yolanda "LaLa" Brown (21) American R&B singer (shot)
2008: LeRoi Moore (46) American saxophonist; Roi attended Charlottesville area public schools and graduated from the Western Albermarle High School. During this time he studied and mastered the saxophone. His dedication to music was evident in Charlottesville. He was a founding member of the Charlottesville Swing Orchestra and the John D'earth Quintet, which played weekly at Millers. In 1991, he met Dave Matthews and agreed to record songs with him for a demo tape. Shortly after this partnership, Roi became a founding member of the Dave Matthews Band and played the flute, penny whistle, and a variety of saxophones. He was one of the few saxophonist to become a key member of a pop rock band. He often arranged the music and had co-writing credits on many DMB songs, most notably "Stay" and "Too Much". His horn collection included a Buescher bass saxophone, Selmer Mark VI and Yamaha baritone saxophones, two Selmer Mark VI tenor saxophones, two Selmer Mark VI alto saxophones, a Yamaha soprano, and a Selmer Super-80 Series 3 soprano (died of sudden complications from an all-terrain vehicle accident he had on his farm in June) b. September 7th 1961.

August 20th
1980: Joe Dassin (41) American-French singer having citizenship in both countries; after studying at the International School of Geneva and the Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland, he moved back to the US to go to the University of Michigan, after which, he moved back to France where, while working at a radio station, a record label convinced him to begin to record his songs. By the early 1970s, Joe's songs were on the top of the charts in France, including his big hit Guantanamera. He was also a talented polyglot, recording songs in German, Russian, Spanish, Italian and Greek, as well as French and English. (died of a heart attack during a vacation to Tahiti) b. November 5th 1938.
1996: Rio Reiser/Ralph Christian Möbius () German rock musician and singer of the rock group Ton Steine Scherben. He taught himself to play cello, guitar, the piano and other instruments, wrote lyrics and poetry and later also assumed jobs as actor in some movies and TV shows or at the theatre. While at school, he became singer in his first rock band The Beat Kings, but he dropped out of school to start an apprenticeship in a studio for photography, which he then quit in order to join a music conservatory. At 17 he followed his two older brothers to Berlin in order to write and compose the first "Beat-Opera" which in his own words was a flop. After a stint in theatrics in 1970 Rio recorded his first single with the band Ton Steine Scherben. They became a musical mouthpiece of new left movements, such as the squatting movement, during that time in Germany and their hometown of West Berlin in particular. After 15 years of touring, four more LPs and various film projects and collaborations with other musicians including the recording of two children's records. In 1985 Rio and the band finally split, and Rio pursued a successful solo career (circulatory collapse after internal bleeding) b. January 9th 1950
1998: Raquel Rastenni (82) Danish singer; she became Denmark's leading female ballad singer. Among her successes were Vovsen i vinduet ("(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?") in 1953 and Heksedansen ("The Witch Dance") in 1960. Her best-selling song was Hele ugen alene ("All week alone") in 1953 which sold over 120,000 copies. She was the first artist in Denmark to earn a gold record. She continued to garner awards throughout her career (?) b. August 21st 1915
1999: Bobby Sheehan (31) US bassist with rock band Blues Traveler (Accidental Drug Overdose).
2005: Krzysztof Raczkowski/Docent/Doc (34) Polish drummer; member of Death metal bands Vader and Dies Irae. He also appears as a guest or temporary musician in Sweet Noise, Hunter, Slashing Death, Unborn, Moon, Overdub Trio bands (he had drug problems, cause of death is unknown) b. Oct 29th 1970.
2006: Claude Blanchard (74) French-Canadian singer, comedian and actor (?) b. May 19th 1932.
2008: Phil Guy (68) American blues guitarist, brother of Buddy Guy. He played with the harmonica player Raful Neal for ten years in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area before relocating to Chicago in 1969. He played with Junior Wells in the 1970s, and recorded extensively under his own name in the 1980s and 1990s (pancreatic cancer) b. April 28th 1940
2009: Larry Knechtel (69) American keyboardist and session musician; born in Bell, California, he learnt the piano as a child. In 1957, he joined the LA based rock and roll band Kip Tyler and the Flips, followed in 1959 by four years with Duane Eddy's touring group, The Rebels. Larry continued to work with Duane in the recording studio, where he became part of the Hollywood session musician scene, working with the likes of
The Beach Boys, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Elvis Costello, Billy Joel, Randy Newman, Simon and Garfunkel, The 5th Dimension, Dolly Parton, Steppenwolf, The Doors, The Byrds, The Mammas and Pappas, Harry Nilsson, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Jr., David Gates, Neil Diamond, Dave Mason, Poco, Johnny Rivers, Tim Weisberg, and he worked with Phil Spector as a pianist to help create the famous Wall of Sound effect. His most famous piano work is his 1971 Grammy Award winning contribution to "Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel. Like many session musicians, Larry plays other instruments, notably the harmonica and the electric bass guitar, which can be heard on The Byrds "Mr. Tambourine Man" and on tracks by The Doors who did not have their own bass guitarist. In 1971, he joined Bread, where his many contributions include the memorable guitar solo on the hit single "The Guitar Man". Larry lived in semi-retirement on his large farm property in Maple Falls, Washington until his death. He had, however, worked with record producer Rick Rubin, contributing with the keyboards to albums by Neil Diamond and the Dixie Chicks, and touring with the Dixie Chicks in support of their Grammy Award winning album Taking the Long Way (died in Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, Washington) b. August 4th 1940.

August 21st
2003: Wesley Willis (40) US singer, keyboardist; he joined musicians from the city's alternative rock scene to form the hard rock band The Wesley Willis Fiasco, which produced such future file sharing favorites as "Jesus is the Answer" and "Casper the Homosexual Friendly Ghost". He created a fervor in the Chicago music scene and soon caught the attention of American Recordings, an independent label distributed by The Warner Group. In 1989, Wesley began hearing what he called "demon mullets" and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He was institutionalized for two months after his diagnosis. He often mentioned that his demons were named "Heartbreaker," "Nervewrecker," and "Meansucker". He called his psychotic episodes "hell rides", and alternatively, he declared rock and roll to be "the joy ride music". In early 1994, Wesley recorded with the Canadian industrial-metal band Monster Voodoo Machine and appeared on their Juno Award winning debut album Suffersystem. In 1995 without his band, he was signed to American Recordings and went on to record two albums while producing dozens of other albums independently, becoming a minor novelty rock sensation. He toured frequently, was profiled on MTV and was a guest on The Howard Stern Show on September 26, 1996 where he played nearly-identical songs about Baba Booey and Stern. At the time of his death, he had recorded over 1,000 songs but his total life savings were less than $300. Having played hundreds of sold out venues across the country, the question still remains where all of Wesley's money went (complications from chronic myelogenous leukemia). b. May 31st 1963.
2005: Robert Moog (71) American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer. He earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Queens College, New York in 1957, another in electrical engineering from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in engineering physics from Cornell University. His awards include honorary doctorates from Polytechnic Institute of New York University and Lycoming College, Pennsylvania. He founded two companies for manufacturing electronic musical instruments and also worked as a consultant and vice president for new product research at Kurzweil Music Systems from 1984 to 1988, helping to develop the Kurzweil K2000. Robert received a Grammy Trustees Award for lifetime achievement in 1970 and in 2002, he was honored with a Grammy Tech Award, and an honorary doctorate degree from Berklee College of Music (brain tumor) b. May 23rd 1934.
2005: Martin Dillon (47) American musician, operatic tenor of world renown, and professor of music at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey. He has performed several times at the Carnegie Hall in New York and performed over 40 roles in the United States, Europe and Asia. He also very successfully revived German-Jewish composer and pianist, Robert Kahn's lost music. His efforts were internationally recognised by the musical and academic community. He made two acclaimed recordings dedicated to Kahn's music, Jungbrunnen - Fountain of Youth and Der Liebe Macht - The Power of Love. Both recordings were world premiers. Martin died before the recording of the third CD which was near completion. He was given the title of Honorary Captain of Police by the New Jersey Police Department in 2001 for his service to the community (Martin died unexpectedly, due to cardiac arrest, about 12 hours after his concert at the Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival) b. June 17th 1957
2007: Rose Bampton (99) American opera singer; a mezzo-soprano, later a soprano, she made her debut as "Siebel" in Gounod's Faust in 1929. Rose sang primarily at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, but also made appearances at many major opera houses worldwide. Her greatest successes were from the dramatic soprano repertoire, particularly in operas by Richard Wagner. After her opera career ended, she started on a second career as a voice teacher, at Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Drake University and Adelphi University and was a member of the boards of the Metropolitan Opera and the William Matheus Sullivan Foundation. She was also an honorary chairman of the Bagby Foundation for the Musical Arts (?) b. November 28th 1907.
2008: Jerry Finn (39) American record producer who worked on albums by popular bands such as AFI, Bad Religion, Blink-182, Alkaline Trio, MxPx, Rancid, Green Day, Sum 41, The Offspring and Morrissey (cerebral hemorrhage) b. March 31st 1969.
2008: Buddy Harman (79) American session musician, the first regular drummer on the Grand Ole Opry. He played drums on 18,000 recordings for artists such as Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Brenda Lee, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Roy Orbison, Connie Francis, Chet Atkins, Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Kenny Rogers, Barbara Mandrell, Eddy Arnold, Perry Como, Merle Haggard, Reba McEntire, and many more. His many awards include "Drummer of the Year" in 1981 from the Academy of Country Music and "Super Picker" Award for drums on the most No.1 recordings from the Nashville NARAS chapter in 1975 and 1976 (congestive heart failure) b. December 21st 1928.
2009: Johnny Carter (75) American singer; a founding member of The Flamingos and a member of The Dells. Both groups have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, making Johnny one of the few multiple inductees. The Flamingos formed in 1952 in Chicago, they signed to the Chicago-based 'Chance' label in 1953. They recorded in a variety of styles, including midtempo ballads such as “Someday, Someway”, lowdown blues as with “Blues in a Letter”, pop standards “That’s My Desire” and jump tunes like “Jump Children”. Their third single released in 1953, “Golden Teardrops,” has been hailed as “the most perfect-sounding single of all time” and “a legendary masterpiece”, yet it failed to reach the national pop charts. “I’ve Only Got Eyes for You,” was the Flamingos’ biggest hit in 1959. Johnny left the Flamingoes joining The Dells replacing lead tenor Johnny Funches in 1960 and he remained an active member of the group until his death. Just after Johnny joined The Dells, they were successful in the audition as Dinah Washington’s backup group, and toured with Washington from 1961 to 1962 and went on to sing background for the likes of Ray Charles and Barbara Lewis. The group was also being vocally fine-tuned by Quincy Jones and began to include jazz and Broadway-styled show tunes as part of their live and recording acts. They charted with 43 hit singles including "Wear It On Our Face", "I Touched a Dream", "Learning to Love You Was Easy (It's So Hard Trying to Get Over You)", "Always Together", "I Can Sing A Rainbow/Love Is Blue" and their first number-one R&B hit and first top ten pop hit, 1968's "Stay in My Corner", which reached number ten on the pop chart. This showcased both Carter and Marvin in lead vocals. Their last 3 hit singles were "A Heart Is a House for Love", "Come and Get It" and "Oh My Love" in the early 90s. Their last album to date "Then and Now" was released in 2008 (lung cancer) b. June 2nd 1934.

August 22nd
2003: Magdalena Nile del Río/Imperio Argentina/Pettit Imperio (96) Argentinian singer and actress. Magdalena performed in Argentina's theatres, where she had a long and successful career. At that time, her stage name was Pettit Imperio. But her most successful moments came after she moved to Spain. It was there that she changed her name to Imperio Argentina, as a way to honor her "other country". While in Spain, del Río participated in many movies, and she participated frequently on television and radio. Imperio Argentina obtained Spanish citizenship in 1999 (?) b. December 26th 1906.
2005: Luc Ferrari (76) French composer born on in ParisHis primary musical education was with Cortot, Honegger, and Messiaen from 1946-1954, for whom he generated pieces in a free atonal style, such as the Antisonate for piano in 1953 and the Piano Quartet in 1954. In 1958 he helped found the Groupe de Recherches Musicales (Group for Musical Research) and began the composition of his many electronic works, such as the Etude des accidents in 1958, Tautologos I in 1961, and Composé-Composite for orchestra and tape in 1963. Luc later taught composition in Cologne from 1964 - 1966, and Montreal from 1966 - 1969. His later works expand further upon his love of natural sounds and complex response to human behavior, including sensuality such as Presque rien avec filles/Almost nothing with girls, in 1989. Luc also composed music for TV and films (?) February 5th 1929
2006: Bruce Gary (55) drummer; The Knack; He was also nominated for two Grammy Awards as a stage performer, producer and recording artist. (Non-Hodgkin lymphoma).
2008: Ralph Young (90) American singer and actor; one of the last great singers of the big band era and the first name star of “The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies.” also starred in the Broadway musical, “Whoop-Up” , but best known as the partner of Tony Sandler in the singing duo of Sandler and Young (died at his Palm Springs home after a brief illness) b. July 1st 1918.

August 23rd
1960: Oscar Hammerstein II (65) American lyricist; he began his first professional collaboration, with Herbert Stothart, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. He began as an apprentice and went on to form a 20 year collaboration with Harbach. Out of this collaboration came his first musical, Always You, for which he wrote the book and lyrics. It opened on Broadway in 1921. He next successfully collaborated with Jerome Kern, their biggest hit, Show Boat, is still considered one of the masterpieces of the American musical theatre. "Here we come to a completely new genre – the musical play as distinguished from musical comedy. Other Kern-Hammerstein musicals include Sweet Adeline, Music In the Air, Three Sisters, and Very Warm for May. Oscar also collaborated with Vincent Youmans with Wildflower, Rudolf Friml with Rose Marie and Sigmund Romberg with both The Desert Song and The New Moon. His most successful and long running collaboration began when he teamed up with Richard Rodgers to write a musical adaptation of the play Green Grow the Lilacs, which was entitled Oklahoma!. They went to produce such classic Broadway musicals as Carousel, Allegro, South Pacific, The King and I, Me & Juliet, Pipe Dream, Flower Drum Song, and The Sound of Music as well as the musical film State Fair and its stage adaptation of the same name, and the television musical Cinderella, all of which were featured in the revue A Grand Night for Singing. Oscar also wrote the book and lyrics for Carmen Jones, an adaptation of Georges Bizet's opera Carmen with an all-black cast. The final song he wrote was "Edelweiss", which was added during rehearsals near the end of the second act. Oscar won eight Tony Awards and two Oscars for best original song—in 1941 for "The Last Time I Saw Paris" in the film Lady Be Good, and in 1945 for "It Might as Well Be Spring" in State Fair. In 1950, the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York." The team also received a special Pulitzer Prize award for Oklahoma! in 1944. The Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theater Studies at Columbia University was established in 1981 with a $1 million gift from his family. The Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre is presented annually, The York Theatre Company in New York is the Administrator of the award (cancer) b. July 12th 1895.
1983: Shawn Michelle Stevens () fifth wife of Jerry Lee Lewis (found dead at their Mississippi home of a methadone overdose).
1995: Dwayne Goettel aka aDuck (31) Canadian keyboardist, he played for an early incarnation of the Canadian gothic/synthpop band Psyche, as well as a band called Water, who opened for Skinny Puppy in 1985. He joined Skinny Puppy during the recording of Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse in mid-1986 when he was recruited to take Wilhelm Schroeder's place. Dwayne would come to be cEvin Key's primary partner in forming Skinny Puppy's music until the album The Process, as well as in their side projects Doubting Thomas, Cyberaktif, The Tear Garden and Hilt. He also formed Subconscious Records in 1993 to release a 12" single under the pseudonym Duck. (heroin overdose) b. February 1st 1964.
1998: Gene Page (68) US producer, arranger; his sound can be heard in the arrangements with Righteous Brothers, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Buffalo Springfield, Barbra Streisand, Martha and the Vandellas, Barry White, Whitney Houston, George Benson, Roberta Flack, Elton John and many more. He was one of the most prolific arrangers/conductors of popular music during his time and worked on more than 200 gold and platinum records. (died after a long illness) b. Sept 13th 1939.
1990: David Rose (80) British-born American songwriter, composer, arranger, and orchestra leader. His most famous compositions were "The Stripper", "Holiday for Strings", and "Calypso Melody". He also wrote music for the television series Little House on the Prairie and Bonanza. In addition, he was musical director for the Red Skelton show during its 21-year-run on the CBS and NBC networks () b. June 15th 1910.
2000: Dindo Yogo/Théodore Dindo Mabeli (44) Congolese singer and musician. He started in Bakin and founded "etumba na ngwaka". In 1978, by the help of his friend Emeneya Mubyala, Dindo joined Papa Wemba's Viva La Musica. In 1981 he left the band for the Langa Langa Stars founded by Verckys Kiamuangana, and in 1984 he made another move, this time to Zaiko Langa Langa. During that time, he also recorded a number of solo albums. In 1991, he left Zaiko Langa Langa, and went solo until his death (?) b. December 30th 1955.
2001: Eric Allendale (65) West Indian trombonist, bandleader, teacher; he was a member of a couple of jazz groups, namely the Terry Lightfoot and Alex Welsh bands and Edmundo Ros before joining The Foundations. He taught music in Zambian schools and later helped found The St Andre Blues Band playing keyboards (?) b. March 4th 1936.
2004: Al Dvorin (81) US bar owner, announcer who popularised the phrase "Elvis has left the building". He met Presley through Colonel Tom Parker in 1955, and organized Presley's concert tours for the next 22 years.(a car crash, on his way home from an Elvis convention in California) b. Nov 18th 1922.
2005: Harold "Hal" Kalin (71) US singer, one half of Kalin Twins; the first set of twins to reach number one in the UK, followed years later by The Proclaimers. But despite further releases, the pairing could not crack the top ten again. Sometimes they performed with their younger sibling, Jack, and thus appeared as the Kalin Brothers. (a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident) b. Feb 16th 1934.
2006: Maynard Ferguson (78) Canadian jazz trumpeter & leader. He came to prominence playing in Stan Kenton's orchestra, before forming his own band in 1957. He was noted for being able to play accurately in a remarkably high register. When he debuted with Stan Kenton's Orchestra in 1950, he could play higher than any other trumpeter up to that point in jazz history. (kidney and liver failure brought on by an abdominal infection) b. May 4th 1928.
2007: Martti Pokela (83) Finnish folk musician and composer; an expert with the kantele, Finland's national musical instrument. He and his wife, Marjatta Pokela, were widely credited with ushering in a revival in interest in Finnish folk music beginning in the 1950s.(?) b. Jan 23rd 1924.
2008: Steve Foley (49) American drummer with The Replacements and Bash & Pop, the band that Tommy Stinson formed after the dissolution of The Replacements (accidentally overdosing on prescription medication) b. ??

August 24th
1978: Louis Prima (67) American jazz singer, trumpeter, and actor; born in New Orleans, USA, Louis studied violin for several years as a child. In his youth, he played trumpet with Irving Fazola, his brother's band, and the pit band of the Saenger Theater. In 1933 he began his busy recording career, as part of the David Rose orchestra at station WGN, Chicago; he was also part of the small recording group The Hotcha Trio, with Rose on piano and Norman Gast on violin. In 1934 he moved to New York, working regularly on 52nd Street with old New Orleans friends like Eddie Miller and George Brunies, and also new acquaintances like Pee Wee Russell. Louis's informal jazz group was known as Louis Prima and His New Orleans Gang, and this band recorded prolifically. The 1950s, see's him and his wife Keely Smith Vegas lounge act in the 1950s helping to make The Sahara a hotspot; in 1959, they won the Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group or Chorus for "That Old Black Magic". Among many other achievements Lous was the voice of King Louie in the '67 Disney animated feature The Jungle Book and in 2008, he was posthumously inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame (following headaches and problems with his memory, he sought medical attention. He went into a coma following surgery to remove a brain tumor. He never recovered, and sadly died three years later) b. December 7th 1910.
1999: Warren Covington (78) US trombone player, bandleader; played early on with Isham Jones, then with Les Brown and Gene Ames in the early 1940s. Following this he became a staff musician for CBS radio. In 1946-47 he led The Commanders, then began playing with Tommy Dorsey in 1950. After Dorsey's death, he took the helm of his ensemble, touring with them from 1961 well into the 1970s (?) b. Aug 7th 1921
1999: Alexandre Lagoya (70) Greek-Italian classical guitarist; As well as a recording career, he taught at the Paris Conservatory, and in Canada, and developed a new method of hand positioning which helped people learn to play the guitar better. He also added the use of the little finger to plucking and claimed to have invented a method for maximizing the sound coming from the classical guitar () b. June 21st 1929
2007: Chris Resch (48) Alaskan vocalist for metal band Pandemonium (?). b. 1958.
2009: Joe Maneri (82) American jazz composer, saxophonist and clarinet player; born in Brooklyn, NY, he made his professional debut on the Catskills society-band circuit at age 17. Three years later, he was introduced to the work of Arnold Schoenberg, the famed inventor of the 12-tone system, and immediately thereafter formed his own 12-tone jazz ensemble, as well as playing in a number of other music combos. After 10 years studying under composer Joseph Schmidt, Eric Leinsdorf, commissioned him to compose a piano concerto. He made his first recordings for Atlantic in 1962, which went unreleased, after which he dissappeared from the music scene. He resurfaced in 1970 teaching theory and composition at the New England Conservatory of Music. Maneri's first officially released recording, 1991's Kavalinka, found him joined by his violinist son Mat and percussionist Masashi Harada. This was followed by the Leo Lab session Get Ready to Receive Yourself, and Three Men Walking in 1995. (complications of heart surgery) b. February 9th 1927

August 25th
1979: Stan Kenton (67) US bandleader and pianist; led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial US jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator (stroke).
1979: Ray Eberle (59) US vocalist with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and later became one of the members of the group The Modernaires (died in Douglasville, Georgia).
1994: Creadel 'Red' Jones (53) singer; The Hi-lites/ The Chi-Lites ().
1995: Doug Stegmeyer (43) Bass player; leader of Billy Joel’s band/sessionist (suicide, shot himself).
1999: Robert/Rob Fisher (39) British keyboardist and songwriter; he went to school at Lord Wandsworth College in Hampshire where he was part of a band called Cirus. After which he was a key figure in the early days of synthpop, beginning with the duo Naked Eyes, with vocalist, Pete Byrne. Their biggest hits were "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me"; and the self-penned "Promises, Promises". In 1987, Rob re-emerged as one half of the pop duo, Climie Fisher, with singer-songwriter, Simon Climie. Together they took "Love Changes (Everything)" to the UK No.2 spot, and their hip-hop inspired "Rise To The Occasion" also made the UK Top Ten (died due to complications following stomach surgery for cancer) b. November 5th 1959.
2000: Jack Nitzche (63) keyboards, piano, percussion; an Academy Award winning American motion picture composer. An important behind-the-scenes figure in popular music for 40 years, composer/ songwriter/ producer/ arranger/ studio musician (heart attack).
2001: Aaliyah/Aaliyah Haughton (22) US Grammy-nominated singer, actress and model born in Brooklyn but raised in Detroit; at 9, she successfully auditioned for the TV show Star Search, where she performed "My Funny Valentine". At 11, she spent 5 nights in Las Vegas performing in Gladys Knight's revue. Aaliyah became famous during the mid-1990s with several hit records from the songwriting production team of Missy Elliott and Timbaland, including several number one R&B hits, a number one pop hit, and nine top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. She played a major role in popularizing the stuttering, futuristic production style that consumed hip-hop and urban soul in the late '90s. (Sadly died in a small Cessna plane crashed a few minutes after take off in the Bahamas) b. January 16th 1979.
2007: Richard Cook (50) British jazz writer and magazine editor sometimes credited as R. D. Cook, he was born in Kew, Surrey and lived in West London as an adult. He was co-author, with Brian Morton, of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings, now in its ninth edition. Richard Cook's Jazz Companion and It's About That Time: Miles Davis On and Off the Record were published in 2005. A writer on music from the late 1970s until his death, he was a prominent contributor to the NME, the jazz critic for The Sunday Times and more recently music writer for the New Statesman. Richard was formerly editor of The Wire, when it was a jazz centred periodical, and edited Jazz Review magazine from its foundation in 1998. He also presented a programme on jazz for BBC local radio GLR (cancer) b. February 7th 1957

August 26th
1958: Ralph Vaughan Williams (87) English composer; Genres: Choral, Orchestral, Concerto, Vocal, Chamber, Symphonic, Film, Band, Ballet, Opera, Keyboard ().
1976: Lotte Lehmann (88) German soprano opera & actress singer, born in Perleberg. After studying in Berlin with Mathilde Mallinger, she made her debut in Hamburg Opera in 1910 as a Page in Wagner's Lohengrin. Lotte went on to appear at all the top opera houses around the world. In 1930, she made her US debut in Chicago as Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre. In addition to her operatic work, she was a renowned singer of lieder, giving frequent recitals throughout her career. Beginning with her first recital tour to Australia in 1937, with her accompianist Paul Ulanowsky, who remained her primary accompianist for concerts and master classes up until her retirement. She was also famous for her interpretation of Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio. Just before Austria was annexed by Germany in 1938, Lotte emigrated to the USA, where she sang at the San Francisco Opera and the Metropolitan Opera until 1945. After her retirement from the recital stage in 1951, Lotte taught master classes at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, which she helped found in 1947. She also gave master classes in Chicago, London, Vienna and others. The Lotte Lehmann Concert Hall on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara was named in her honor (?) b. February 27th 1888.
1988: Carlos Manuel de Marques Paião (30) Popular Portugese singer, accordionist and song-writer; he penned some 500 songs. He was also a doctor, having graduated in Medicine in 1983, but his great passion was music (killed in a car accident in Ponte Amieira, near the city of Rio Maior, while returning from a concert).
1995: Ronnie White (57) US producer, songwriter and singer with the Chimes, Miracles and Ron & Bill; along with Smokey Robinson, was one of the founding members of the Motown group the Miracles. He co-wrote with Robinson the classics "My Girl," "Don't Look Back," and "You Beat Me to the Punch." He also played a key role in the career of Stevie Wonder ().
2000: Douglas Allen Woody (43) bass player, Allman Brothers (a chambermaid found Woody, lying dead inside a room at the Marriott Courtyard Motel on the Grand Central Parkway,An autopsy performed was inconclusive).
2004: David Myers (80) US Cinematographer. US music video director; He worked of various music films including Woodstock, Elvis On Tour, The Last Waltz, The Grateful Dead Movie, Mad Dogs & Englishmen and Cracked Actor: A Film About David Bowie. (stroke). (not to be confused with Dave Myers American music video director).
2004: Laura Branigan (47) American singer. She played Janis Joplin in the US musical Love, Janis. (brain aneurysm).
2009: Ellie Gaye/Eleanor Greenwich (68) American singer and songwriter; born in Brooklyn, New York, at 17, under the name Ellie Gaye, she recorded her first single, the self-written "Silly Isn't It" b/w "Cha-Cha Charming" while attending Queens College, Greenwich. At this time she met up and coming songwriter Jeff Barry and soon the pair began writing songs together. Along with Jeff she was a co-writer of "Tell Laura I Love Her," in 1960. Soon after they were signed to the famed Brill Building and began writing and producing for Phil Spector's short-lived Philles label. In 1962 Ellie and Jeff married and decided to write songs exclusively with each other. Before the end of 1963, Barry-Greenwich had scored hits with songs such as "Be My Baby" and "Baby, I Love You" (The Ronettes), "Chapel Of Love" (The Dixie Cups), "Then He Kissed Me" and "Da Doo Ron Ron" (The Crystals), "Not Too Young To Get Married" (Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans), and "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" by Darlene Love. Greenwich and Barry also recorded singles and an album under the name The Raindrops, with Ellie providing all the female vocals through overdubbing, and Jeff singing backgrounds in a bass voice. They wrote many hits at this time including "Hanky Panky", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Cherry Cherry", "Kentucky Woman", "I Can Hear Music", "River Deep, Mountain High" to mention a few. In 1967, Ellie formed Pineywood Music with Mike Rashkow, they worked with The Fuzzy Bunnies, Dusty Springfield, The Definitive Rock Chorale, The Other Voices, and The Hardy Boys. She went on to collaborate with other writers such as Ellen Foley and Jeff Kent as well as providing backing vocals on many hits over her long career. As well as the above she also worked with Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, Elton John, Cher, Tina Turner, Mariah Carey, Bette Midler, Celine Dion, U2, Twisted Sister and Hanson and many others have recorded her songs. In 1984 she involved herself in a musical based on her life titled Leader of the Pack. In 1991, Ellie and Jeff Barry were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Ellie's songs have earned her over 25 gold and platinum records and sales in the tens of millions along with over 33 BMI Awards and numerous civic and Hofstra-Alumni citations (heart attack) b. October 23rd 1940.
August 27th
1967: Brian Epstein (32) Manager of the Beatles, businessman (Died of an accidental overdose of brandy and barbiturates).
1975: Bob Scholl (37) vocals; Mellow Kings (died in a boating accident in New York).
1987: Scott la Rock/Scott Sterling (25) American hip hop DJ; he was the original DJ for the hip hop group Boogie Down Productions. Working as a social worker, Scott met rapper KRS-One in 1986 at the Franklin Men's Shelter in the Bronx where KRS was staying. The pair, together with rapper D-Nice, formed Boogie Down Productions. Their 1987 debut album, Criminal Minded, was an instant hit. After Scott's violent death KRS-One continued Boogie Down Productions, crediting subsequent releases as being "Overseen by Scott La Rock". The "Stop the Violence Movement" was in large a result of his murder. (Scot was shot in New York, after trying to defuse a disagreement; a victim of the Brooklyn - Bronx street war, he died in the operating room within one hour of being shot) b. March 2nd 1962.
1990: Stevie Ray Vaughan (36) Blues, country, rock, guitarist, lead singer and guitarist for the band Double Trouble. By 1986 he was one of the most sort after blues guitarists.(He was killed with four others in a helicopter crash near East Troy).
1998: Ras Sam Brown (72) Jamaican roots reggae singer, poet; well known in Kingston for his politics after he stood in the 1961 elections for his Suffering People's Party. He received fewer than 100 votes, yet by being the first rasta to ever stand for politics his influence has been greater than this statistic suggests, especially as at the time there was generalised feeling in the Rastafarian movement that Rastas do not vote. In 1996 he became a roots reggae singer and poet with an album called History, Past and Present. Ras was the first rasta to ever stand for politics in 1961 (died while attending an international trade fair in Barbados) b. December 16th 1925.
2000: Richard "Snax" Jaeger (52) American blues and jazz percussionist; born in San Diego, California, he has worked with many greats including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, The Pointer Sisters, The BoDeans, Jimi Hendrix and many others (?) b. November 9th 1947.
2007: Doug Riley (62) Canadian keyboardist and informally referred to as "Doctor Music"; born in Toronto, he graduated at the University of Toronto and studied with the Royal Conservatory of Music. Doug spent two decades with the internationally renowned black light theatre company, The Famous People Players as its musical director, as well as his participating on over 300 album projects in various genres. From 1993-2000 he was voted Jazz Organist of the Year at the Jazz Report Awards and in 2003 he was honored with The Order of Canada (heart failure) b. April 24th 1945.
2006: Jesse Pintado (38) US-Mexican metal guitarist; born in Mexico, but moved to America at a young age. He started in the band Terrorizer where he recorded the grindcore album World Downfall, before he joined Napalm Death immediately prior to the recording of their album Harmony Corruption.Jesse recorded 13 albums with the band which included 4 live albums. Whilst in Napalm Death, he had also played with bassist Shane Embury in Lock Up, releasing two albums. Jesse, under the name of Cristo de Pisto also played for Brujeria on their 2000-album Brujerizmo. In 2004 he officially left Napalm Death and revived Terrorizer, recruiting Tony Norman of Monstrosity and Anthony Rezhawk; he and Pete Sandoval were the only original members. He relocated to Ridderkerk in the Netherland. In 2006, with Terrorizer he released thier second and album Darker Days Ahead (a few weeks after the release of his album Darker Days Ahead, Jesse died in hospital in the Netherlands due to liver failure after a diabetes-induced coma) b. July 12th 1969.
2009: Antonio Virgilio Savona (89) Italian singer, composer and musician; born at Palermo, Sicily, he started to study music at the age of six. After high-school, Antonio enrolled at the Saint Cecilia's Conservatory in Rome to study piano. In 1941 he replaced Iacopo Jacomelli in a vocal quartet, Quartetto Egie, which changed its name to Quartetto Ritmo and then to Quartetto Cetra one year later. Besides singing, Antonio was the group's composer and arranger. He wrote the music while Tata Giacobetti, also a member of the quartet, wrote the lyrics. They worked together for over 40 years, producing 100's of songs which made up Quartetto Cetra's vast repertoire. During 1970s he was also active as pianist, orchestra conductor, arranger and producer and started researching folk songs. In 1991 he wrote an autobiographical book about Quartetto Cetra, published by Sperling & Kupfer. Antonio also composed music and wrote scripts for radio and TV programs, stage shows and movies (Parkinson's disease.) b. January 1st 1920

August 28th
2004: Clement Barone (82) American piccolo & flute virtuoso. He was a member of The Detroit Symphony Orchestra for 34 years and a session musician for Motown, Clement can be heard on many of Motown's greatest hits. (cancer) b. December 7th 1921 .. read more
2007: Hilly Kristal (75) American club owner and promoter; in 1968 he co-founded the Schaefer Music Festival with concert promoter Ron Delsener; the festival took place every year until 1976 in NYC's Central Park and featured superstars from all music genres like The Who, Miles Davis, Chuck Berry, Bob Marley, B.B. King, Led Zeppelin, The Beach Boys, Frank Zappa, Ray Charles, Patti LaBelle, Ike & Tina Turner, Fleetwood Mac, The Allman Brothers, Kris Kristofferson, Curtis Mayfield, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, The Doors and many other bands. In 1970 Hilly opened a bar in the Bowery section of New York called "Hilly's on the Bowery". Then, in December 1973, he created the club "CBGB and OMFUG", an abbreviation of the kinds of music he intended to feature there: "Country, BlueGrass, Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers". The club became known as the starting point for the careers of such punk rock and New Wave acts as The Ramones, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Television, and Blondie (lung cancer) b. September 23rd 1931.
2009: DJ AM/Adam Michael Goldstein (36) American DJ, club owner and a former member of the rock band Crazy Town; he joined Crazy Town in the late '90s appearing on their debut album The Gift of Game recorded in 1998, released on Nov 1999, which was followed by a tour support slot for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Born in Philadelphia, PA, Adam started deejaying when he was around 20 and scratched on albums for Papa Roach, Madonna, Will Smith, and Shifty and appeared in concerts with Jay-Z and played private events for celebrities like Jim Carrey, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Lopez, Ben Stiller, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, and Kate Hudson. He had a one-year contract with Las Vegas' Pure Nightclub inside Caesar's Palace to play at the venue every Friday and opening a nightclub at Caesars Atlantic City called Dusk. Also he had collaborated with Travis Barker of Blink-182, in many performances, including the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. On September 19th 2008, after having performed at a college event with Travis, Adam was seriously injured when the Learjet he was traveling in crashed on takeoff in West Columbia, South Carolina. The crash killed both crew members and two other passengers, and critically injured himself and Travis. He made his first appearance with Travis since the two survived the plane crash, when the duo performed at New Year's Nation's Los Angeles 2008 New Year's Eve Party at The Wiltern. Adam was also a co-owner of the popular club LAX. (a possible accidental drug overdose) b. March 30th 1973.

August 29th
1972: Lale Andersen (67) German singer and cabaretist (heart attack).
1976: Jimmy Reed/Mathis James Reed (50) American blues guitarist, singer, harmonica; born in Dunleith, Mississippi, he learnt harmonica and guitar from close friend Eddie Taylor. After spending several years busking and performing in the area, he moved to Chicago in 1943 before being drafted into the US Navy during World War II. Discharged in '45 he moved back to Mississippi, before moving to Gary, Indiana to work at an Armour & Co. meat packing plant. By the '50s, Jimmy had established himself as a popular musician and joined the "Gary Kings" with John Brim, as well as playing on the street with Willie Joe Duncan. He signed with Vee-Jay Records and began playing again with Eddie Taylor and soon released "You Don't Have to Go", his first hit record. This was followed by a long string of hits. Jimmy's recordings of "Big Boss Man" and "Bright Lights, Big City" were both voted onto the list of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and in 1991 he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (respiratory failure) b. September 6th 1925.
1987: Lee Marvin (63) actor, singer; sung "I Was Born Under a Wondering Star" in the musical "Painted Wagon" (heart attack).
1981: Guy Stevens (38) producer, Mott The Hoople (heart attack).
1998: Charlie Feathers (66) singer, guitarist Rockabilly pioneer (complications from a stroke-induced coma).
2001: Graeme "Shirley" Strachan (49) Australian rock singer; Born in Melbourne he started his singing career as lead singer with The Skyhooks. He started a solo singing career during his time with Skyhooks and released a number of records, the most successful of which was his cover of "Every Little Bit Hurts" in 1976 and released an album "It's All Rock 'n Roll To Me" in 1980. He left Skyhooks in 1978 to work as a radio and television presenter. The episode of the ABC documentary 'Long Way To The Top' featuring Skyhooks was scheduled to be broadcast on the day of his death. The episode was dedicated to his memory, also Channel 9 ran a tribute episode of Our House featuring footage filmed in the weeks before his death, along with archive footage (killed in a helicopter accident) b. January 2nd 1952.
2006: Jumping Gene Simmons (69) Rockabilly singer, songwriter, he used to open for Elvis Presley (died after long illness).
2007: Kip Anderson (69) American R & B singer, songwriter, pianist, guitarist and disc jockey; one of a legion of unheralded soul singers from the southern states, best known for his mid 60s hit A Knife and a Fork. At the age of 13, he would take his talent on the road with gospel music legend Madame Edna Gallman Cooke, touring the country with her in the summer months. His first solo recording, “I Wanna Be the Only One,” came out in 1959 during his college years at South Carolina State University. From there he would sing with well-known rhythm and blues artists, in both Europe and America, including The Drifters, Sam Cooke, Etta James, Jerry Butler and Jackie Wilson, as well as releasing several singles throughout the 60s. However, by 1970 Kip was battling heroin addiction, although he continued working in radio, his performing career dried up, and in 1977 he was sentenced to 10 years in Columbia, South Carolina. While serving his time he and several other inmates formed a gospel group, later appearing at local churches and community events. Upon his release, he returned to his recording career, cutting the gospel record "I Coulda Been Sleeping" in 1989 and in 1992 full-length A Dog Don't Wear No Shoes, followed a year later by A Knife and a Fork in 1996, he also collaborated with R&B singer Nappy Brown for the duet collection Best of Both Worlds. For many years hosted a daily gospel show on Anderson radio station WANS AM (?) b. January 24th 1938.
2009: Chris Connor/Mary Loutsenhizer (81) American jazz singer; born in Kansas City, Chris studied clarinet as a young girl and while at the University of Missouri, she sang with a Stan Kentonish big band led by trombonist Bob Brookmeyer before leaving her native Kansas City for New York in 1947, where firstly she was featured in the lyrical pianist Claude Thornhill's orchestra in the early '50s, before her ten-month association with Kenton in 1952-1953, which resulted in the hit "All About Ronnie.". She debuted as a solo artist in 1953, recording three albums for Bethlehem before moving to Atlantic in 1955 recording the songs of George Gershwin, Kurt Weill, Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, Margo Guryan, Cole Porter, Bart Howard, and Peggy Lee, as well as Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein compositions. She reached the height of her popularity in the 1950s, when she delivered her celebrated versions of Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life" and George Shearing's "Lullaby of Broadway," and recorded such excellent albums as The Rich Sound of Chris Connor and Lullabies of Birdland for Bethlehem and Chris Craft and Ballads of the Sad Cafe for Atlantic. Chris maintained her popularity throughout her long career, releasing her last album, Everything I Love for Highnote Records in 2003 (cancer) b. November 8th 1927

August 30th
1985: Joseph Rudolph 'Philly Joe' Jones (62) jazz drummer, Miles Davis Quintet /Dameronia/ sessionist (heart attack).
1988: Papa Dee Allen/Thomas Sylvester Allen (57) Percussion, Bongos; War (Died from a heart attack while performing on stage).
1995: Sterling Morrison (53) US musician, a founding member of the group Velvet Underground, playing electric guitar, occasionally bass guitar, and backing vocals. He was born in East Meadow, L.I. He was in and out of various colleges and majored in English at Syracuse University. Then in 1965 he founded the Velvet Underground with Lou Reed, John Cale and Maureen Tucker and the band quickly gained notice through its association with Andy Warhol, who adopted the performers as his proteges. Their music, with its knotty, pre-punk arrangements, had an influence that far outlasted the life of the band. After the Velvet Undergound split up in 1971, Stirling resumed his studies and earned a doctorate in medieval studies from the University of Texas at Austin. During that period, he piloted tugboats in the Houston Ship Channel and eventually earned a captain's license. By the end of the 1980's, he had resumed his music career, touring with Maureen Tucker's band and participating in the summer of 1993 in a Velvet Underground reunion tour of Europe. He collaborated with John Cale on the score for the film "Antarctica" and was a guest on rock recordings like Luna's "Bewitched." and in 1995 was a featured performer with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. Upon Velvet Underground's induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, Reed, Cale & Tucker performed "Last Night I Said Goodbye to My Friend," which was dedicated to Sterling. (non-Hodgkin's lymphoma). b. August 28th 1942.
2009: Simon Dee/Cyril Nicholas Henty-Dodd (74) British radio disc jockey and television presenter; he was educated at Brighton College and Shrewsbury School and served his compulsory military service in the Royal Air Force. During the 1956 Suez Crisis he was wounded in the face by a sniper in Cyprus. After leaving the RAF and after many odd jobs including coffee bar bouncer and leaf-sweeper in Hyde Park, in 1964 he joined Radio Caroline, a now legendary pirate radio ship broadcasting pop music from outside UK territorial waters. He made history on Easter day, March 30th, when his was the first voice to be heard on the radio station, welcoming listeners and handing over to the only other DJ on the ship at the time, Chris Moore, for the opening programme. In 1965 he left Caroline to work for the BBC Light Programme, introducing a late-night show on Saturdays, as well as working on 208, Radio Luxembourg. When BBC Radio 1 opened in 1967, he introduced the Monday edition of Midday Spin and frequently presented Top of the Pops on BBC television. Also in 1967 Simon began his early evening chat show Dee Time on BBC television, opened with sports presenter Len Martin announcing "It's Siiiiiiimon Dee!". He shaped the face of chat shows in the 1960s and was the leading presenter of the time. His twice weekly show became extremely popular, interviewing the likes of Sammy Davis Jr, Bob Hope and John Lennon, attracting up to 18 million viewers. Simon also had cameo roles in films, including The Italian Job and Doctor in Trouble. He fell out with the BBC and breifly worked for ITV, but had disagreements with them too. In 1970 he joined his former Radio Caroline boss, Ronan O'Rahilly, to campaign for pirate radio and against the Labour government's Marine Broadcasting Offences Act, issuing a poster of Prime Minister Harold Wilson dressed as Chinese dictator Mao Zedong. Pirate radio had become a political issue and, in the run up to the general election that summer, Radio Caroline International launched a campaign in support of the Conservative Party, which supported commercial radio. Simon later claimed that there was an Establishment plot against him because of his open opposition to PM Harold Wilson, and recently released government files show that he was indeed being monitored by the Security Service. Simon soon fell on hard times, spending 28 days in Pentonville prison for non-payment of rates on his former Chelsea home in 1974. His career never really recovered. In the late 1980s, he hosted Sounds of the 60s on BBC Radio 2. In 2003, Victor Lewis-Smith arranged for a one-off new live edition of Dee Time to be broadcast on Channel Four, following Dee Construction, which covered Dee's career. Allegedly actress Elizabeth Hurley has claimed that Simon was the model for the character Austin Powers in the spoof 1960s films of 1997-2002 (bone cancer) b. July 28th 1935.

August 31st
2002: Lionel Hampton (94) American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. He was one of the first jazz vibraphone players and ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy Rich to Charlie Parker to Quincy Jones. In 1992, he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame (congestive heart failure) b. April 20th 1908.
2004: Carl Wayne/Colin David Tooley (60) UK singer and actor, best remembered as the lead vocalist with rock group The Move. He later became a presenter on BBC Radio WM, and was a tireless fund raiser for leukaemia research, running several London marathons for charity. Carl grew up in the Hodge Hill district of Birmingham, inspired by the American rock'n'roll of Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent, he formed The G-Men in the late 1950s, and joined local band The Vikings, where his powerful baritone and pink stage suit helped make them one of the leading rock groups in the Midlands of their time. In February 1966 he joined The Move, a Brum beat supergroup drawn from top local bands. They included three members of the Vikings, bass guitarist Chris 'Ace' Kefford, drummer Bev Bevan and Wayne himself, alongside Trevor Burton, lead guitarist with Danny King and the Mayfair Set, and Roy Wood, lead guitarist with Mike Sheridan And The Nightriders. They enjoyed three years of hits with singles such as"Blackberry Way", "Night of Fear", "I Can Hear The Grass Grow", "Flowers In The Rain", and "Fire Brigade". In their early years The Move had a stage act which occasionally saw Carl taking an axe to TV sets, or chain sawing a Cadillac to pieces at The Roundhouse, London during "Fire Brigade", which resulted in the Soho area being jammed with fire engines, and the group being banned for a while from every theatre venue in the UK. In late '69 Carl left to pursue a solo career in, but also made a few recordings with the Electric Light Orchestra as guest vocalist. He went on to be became a longtime presenter on BBC Radio WM. He was also a tireless fund raiser for leukaemia research, and ran several London marathons for charity. In 2000, on the retirement of lead vocalist Allan Clarke, he joined The Hollies, touring Europe and Australasia with them as well as playing venues all over the United Kingdom. In addition to most of the Hollies' songs, they also included "Flowers In The Rain" and "Blackberry Way" in their live repertoire. They recorded a new song, "How Do I Survive", in February 2003, which appeared as the only previously unreleased item on a 46-track compilation CD of the Hollies' greatest hits later that year. He played his last concert with the group on 10 July 2004 at Egersund, Norway. Shortly afterwards he was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer and he died a few weeks later (cancer) b. Aug 18th 1943.
2004: Johnny Bragg (78) US vocalist, songwriter with Johnny Bragg & The Prisonaires; he started his career with fellow prison inmates when falsely accused of rape. In the summer of 1953, under heavy guard, the singers traveled from their Nashville prison to Memphis to record the hit "Just Walkin' in the Rain," of which he was the co-writer, at the fledgling Sun Records. It was the song that put Sun Records on the map, and the story captured the attention of Elvis Presley, who that same summer, made his first demo recordings at Sun. In 1961 Elvis visited Johnny Bragg in prison. (Cancer) b. Jan 18th 1926

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